The best things in life are free ...

I had not intended to post much between Christmas and New Year, but there's something I wanted to share with you.  It's not a card for a change, but I hope that it will still give some of you a smile when you see it.

As some of you know, hubby and I on the coast in a beautiful part of South Devon that is so easy to take for granted.  Today we walked from our house to the harbour for lunch by the pier and a general meander.

The sun was reflecting off the calm sea, and there were a couple of jetskis having fun on the water. The outer harbour was full of boats and people were having lunch on the parade.  We felt like we could have been in the Med!

I took a short video on my phone from an area called Rock Walk.  It's only a few seconds long so I hope you have time to take a quick peek at the beautiful views near where I live.

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

A look back at 2015 and some New Year Resolutions

2016 is just six hours away so I'm having my traditional nostalgic look back over my creations of the past 12 months and picked out one favourite project from each month.  

I've noticed that I've only written 206 posts this year which has been the fewest annual number since I started blogging, but I like to think I've concentrated on quality rather than quantity!  

I've noticed a change in my style with more clean and simple designs making an appearance. I'm not sure if that's because I've spent so long on the image that I've run out of steam by the time I come to make it up into a card, or because I don't want anything to distract attention away from the image that's taken me hours to paint!  Either way, it's making a nice change.

Creatively I was so pleased to be part of the Lili of the Valley Design Creative (you'll see from my choice of favourites that Lilis feature quite a lot), and also sooooo proud to win 2nd prize in the National Cardmaker of the Year 2015 competition with CardMaking and Papercraft Magazine.

As usual I've made some new, and deepened some existing friendships with some lovely blogging buddies, and even met a couple this year for the first time. I think that's what makes this such a special hobby; it converts something which can be quite a solitary pursuit into something far more social.

So being 31st December, I am doing my customary annual round up of my favourite projects from the last 12 months.

You'd better brace yourself for a photo heavy post, or just scroll to the bottom to see my aspirations for 2016 ...

January
A rarity for me is a masculine card, but even more rare is that I was really pleased with how this one turned out although I never did find out if Jonny actually likes DIY.

February

I was delighted with this project. Like the above card for Jonny, this project was for two work colleagues who were getting married. I made them a matching card, but it was the hanger that I was most pleased with.

March

In the run up to Easter I made a batch of Easter cards using some LOTV images, and this one was a favourite as soon as I'd finished it. I love the chicks and the duck, plus anything featuring a chocolate egg is a bonus in my book!

April

I love making these clocks and this image, with its sentiment, is one of my favourites. I'd also tried my hand at phasing the colouring on the numbers from green (grass) to blue (sky) in shades to match the image and was pleased with how it turned out.

May

The first non-LOTV image in my top picks of the year, and I'm back to my roots with a Penny Black image.  I also love the clean and bright colours and the happy hedgie.

June

I'm back to LOTV with June's favourite, and probably my favourite character from their range; James the bear! This was another card for a work colleague and I used my favourite colour, pink, and a personalised sentiment.

July

I started my love affair with Stamping Bella images this year and this was one of my original favourites. This card was also one of my entries into the CMOTY 2015 competition where I was so proud to scoop 2nd place so it's a special card for me and has to feature in my favourites of the year.

August

This was one of those 'warm and fuzzy' cards. I hadn't used Tildas for quite a while, but some new ones caught my eye and I gave in fairly easily!  This one is now probably my favourite Tilda, and with gorgeous pink papers, satin ribbon, a shaped card base, floral die cuts, mulberry flowers and shiny pearls, it's right up my street!

September

Another LOTV image, and this time a cute little bunnykins who's feeling a bit under the weather. He was made for someone special who needed a spot of cheering up so I used purple which is one of her favourite colours (and mine!).

October

As mentioned above I reacquainted myself with Tilda this year and this was another of my new Tildas.  I used my favourite Maja Design papers, DI reinkers, rich plum coloured satin ribbon, some new stitched cloud dies and pretty floral embellishments.

November

As soon as I saw the new release at Stamping Bella included these honeybears I was in love with this image. It reminded me of Winnie the Pooh (my childhood favourite) and I was pleased with how this card using them turned out. I love the scene and although I've added some fuss around the image, I don't think it detracts from the focal point.

December

And finally December's pick is this cutie from WRS. I spent a long time painting these little owls as they were quite fiddly, and in the end I decided that I couldn't bear to part with it, so I gave it to hubby for Christmas in order that I could have it back when he's ready to take down all the cards (usually on 26th Dec).

Looking Back:

I seem to have found much more of a balance between CAS and fussy this year.  I've also used some other colours rather than reverting back to my favourite pinks and purples, although I still seem to have a slight addiction to Lili of the Valley images as they feature in 6 of my top 12 picks with Tildas and Stamping Bellas tying for the runner up spot!

Looking Forward:
So what are my optimistic resolutions for next year?  

1. To ink up some of my unused stamps rather than keep adding new stuff.  Being realistic I suspect it'll be a mix of both old and new.
2. To have all my Christmas cards made by the end of November so that I can get them written and sent out on time (I know a couple I sent overseas this year didn't quite make it to their destinations before Christmas).
3. To continue to focus on quality rather than quantity, which probably means more CAS creations.  In reality this may help with my final resolution:
4. To make more male cards that I'm proud of.

Happy New Year:

Well that's all folks.  If you've stayed for the full post then I'm impressed! :0) Thank you to all my lovely followers, old and new, and especially to everyone who has left me a comment or two this year. I hope you've liked what you've seen, and hope you continue to pop back next year.

Happy New Year, and I hope that 2016 brings you health and happiness (and lots of crafting time too!)

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Harry Happy Mail (and some happy mail)

Today's card is something I've made for hubby's birthday.

His only request was that his card featured nothing cute and no bears.

Well, it's the thought that counts, right?

...and my very own Happy Mail also arrived last week in the form of November's delivery of Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine where I found my name under the 2nd place prizewinner in their National Cardmaker of the Year 2015.  (yup, I'm still grinning!)  :0)

Card Recipe:

• Image - Harry Happy Mail from Stamping Bella
• Colouring - Distress Ink Reinkers
• DCWV Printed Corrugate Stack
• Stazon Ink Pad
• The Langton Watercolour paper
• Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Border die from Simon Says Stamp
• Button Twine
• Heart charm

I've been inspired by:

• Simon's Monday Challenge - For the Gents ('cos it's for my hubby's birthday)
• Simon's Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Creative Bloggers Hop

Hello everyone.

You may have seen the Creative Bloggers Hop popping up around blogland.  It's a continuous hop every Monday with a host of creative and inspirational bloggers taking part.  

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from my lovely blogpal Squirrel asking if I'd like to take part.  If you’re familiar with Squirrel’s work you will easily recognise her clean and simple style, focusing on a beautifully coloured image.  But it's not just her creative talents I love - she’s an amazing lady and I'm very honoured to count her as one of my top blogpals (and a friend who's just a text message away).  Check out some colouring that especially caught my eye on her blog this week (click here).

So, still on a 'high' from being chosen by Squirrel, I could not believe it when, two days later, I received an email from one of my very earliest followers, Wendy (Crafty Kiwi Mama), also asking me if I minded her nominating me for the Creative Bloggers Hop. Well, I was one honoured little crafter I can tell you!   As one of my longest standing followers, I love seeing Wendy's name pop up in my comments.  She also makes some gorgeously pretty cards, for example click here to see a little cutie which specifically caught my eye using an image I absolutely love.

So thank you to both Squirrel and Wendy. I'm totally humbled that you both think I'm worthy of nominating in the 'inspiration' hop. :0)

So, back to business: There are four questions to answer.  

Easy, huh?  

Erm, well, let’s see how we get on, shall we!

Here goes …. I'm heading in!

1.  What Am I Working On At The Moment?

I've got a project that’s taking over most of my crafting time (and all of my conservatory) at the moment.  It’s something that’s a bit different for me because it’s a bulk-make: I'm helping a work colleague make her wedding invitations.  

The bride-to-be and I had a 'design' evening where we started with a basic card and thrashed around different ideas.  I was anticipating that for 50 identical cards we’d want something simple and quick to create.  

But, as with all good intentions, that plan soon went out of the window, and I soon got carried away showing her what we could make.  

Needless to say we ended up with an embossed, stitched pocket card with punched border and a double organza bow on a printed die cut circle for the front!  

So, just what you want when you're making 50 identical cards, right?  ;0)  

Plus I used the design as justification to buy a new stitched circle nesting die!

So far we've spent 2 evenings in production together, on lock-down in my conservatory.  The first evening we were trimming, folding, cutting, embossing, punching, gluing, bow-tying and sewing for 3 hours.  That produced 6 cards.  Two evenings later we had another session and managed to produce a doubled quota of 12 in the same time, which brought the total to 18.  

Whilst 18 cards in 6 hours might be a new record for me, the downside is that she needs 50!  It's not as bad as it sounds as we do actually have a few dozen more which are now ‘part finished’ so won't take quite as long to finish!  

Hopefully I’ll be able to share a photo of one with you before long (with the bride's permission!).  So far I've been doing all the stitching and a large proportion of of the cutting, and the Bride-to-be’s been doing the embossing, punching, die-cutting and sticking.  But I've fore-warned her that I'm going to ‘insist’ that she makes the last one from start to finish so that she can use that one as a keepsake!  I think she’s a bit nervous of the sewing machine, but I thought it would be nice for her to have one that she’s made fully herself so that in years to come she can dig it out and show what she made. 

Other than the epic wedding invitation project, I'm several weeks ahead with my DT work, which is where I like to be, and I've actually been fairly quiet apart from a quick card here and there.  

I'm trying to focus more on the quality of my colouring at the moment; watching some You-Tube videos of colouring classes, so it’s taking me longer to create each card.  I've also bought some Inktense pencils which I’ll admit that I'm struggling with, so I'm trying to persevere with them, resisting the urge to give up with them too soon.

In other news, I'm also trying desperately to use what I've already bought (as I seem to have had a little bit of a spending spree lately) rather than buy new stuff before I've inked up the last purchase.  

It’s probably best that you don’t ask how successful that's been though. :0)

2.  How Does My Work Differ From Others In My Genre?

I’d like to think that there are a few people who could pick my cards out from a line-up.  I think my penchant for chalked clouds and ‘grounding’ my characters on a background might be a main identifier.  Aside from that, to be honest I'm undoubtedly inspired by others in blogland, so my cards will naturally incorporate elements and techniques that I see around me.  

But I think that’s a good thing.  It’s how I've both improved evolved my crafting as well as stalking making some lovely new chums along the journey.  

When I look back at my creations from when I first started (wow - that's 10 years ago this year!), I'm stunned at how much my style (and skill) has changed. 

I'm keen to try to attempt new techniques (the Inktense pencils being one example) as well as inking onto Linen, making boxes, designing bags, making my own crackers, clocks, jewellery etc.  I guess what makes me different in that respect is that very rarely will I follow a pattern, usually preferring instead to ‘wing it’ and create my own design.  

Sometimes that works out well, sometimes not!

The other thing that I like to think makes me a little bit different is that I make bespoke digi sentiments for my followers which I design and share for free.  I occasionally receive emails from someone saying they’re struggling to find something for a card they’re making, or they want something personalised with a special person’s name or date.  As far as possible I’ll happily help out, with my payment being seeing my sentiment used on their finished creation at some point.  

I'm certainly not saying my digi sentiments are anything special, nor do I have any 'digi design' training, but people seemed to like them enough to use them, so why not share them?  I love seeing them crop up all over blogland on some fabulous creations.  I've also shared my templates for clocks and crackers.  If you want a peek at my freebies, click here, and I'd love you to leave a comment if you grab one.

3.  Why Do I Create What I Do?

That’s a simple question, with a simple answer:

Because I love it.

Crafting has become an addiction, but it’s an addiction for which I seek no cure.  

I started card-making 10 years ago when I made my own wedding invitations.  They were a simple design (yes, I did follow my bulk-production theory in those early days!) with a trio of burgundy roses on a strip of gold textured card.  

That was enough for me to catch the crafting bug and I quickly moved on to stamping.  Like many others, my first love was Penny Black images before I moved through almost an entirely Digi stage.  Now, I seem to be now moving back to rubber, with a roughly 70:30 split.  

My favourite designs are from Lili of the Valley, Sugar Nellie, Tiddly Inks, Purple Onion Designs, Wee Stamps, Saturated Canary, Wild Rose Studio and of course Penny Black.   

Oh, and I've recently acquired a fondness for Stamping Bella’s Uptown Girls.

Erm, and Whipper Snapper

And Crafter’s Companion images.

So, not too many then!  :0)

I find crafting very therapeutic from a busy life.  A stressful full-time day-job unfortunately uses up valuable crafting time but pays for new crafty stash (and a few bills!).  It does scare me that sometimes I can’t seem to stop myself buying new things and there is a lot of stuff I've bought which hasn't seen the light of day yet.  I like to think that I am generally getting better at only buying stuff that I will actually use, rather than stuff that looks good in the packet but not sure how to use it once I get it home.

As you may know, in addition to my crafting, when I have the time, I also like to write my posts with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour.  I think that we all need a bit of a giggle in our lives, and I prefer the subtle to the slapstick.  I hope that occasionally some of my antics bring a smile to my readers’ lips.  If so, my work here is done!

4.  How Does Your Creative Process Work?

Most of my cards are for a purpose, either a DT project or a specific recipient or occasion.  

The process almost always starts with an image, but I have been specifically trying to select my papers before I start to colour.  The idea is that I then match my image colours to the papers, rather than the other way around.  The latter can sometimes result in some interesting creations, some which are so colour-busy that I'm not so proud to share!

The design layout falls into place at the end, depending on my mood.  

For example: I used to only make really ‘fussy’ designs, like this personalised LOTV baby girl card from last summer:

Don't get me wrong, this card remains one of my all-time favourite creations, but in the last few months, something odd has happened.

The 'fussy' switch in my head must have flipped over to 'Fuss-Free' because I started creating far more CAS designs.

As if to prove that point, this weekend I created the ULTIMATE clean and simple design. 

Brace yourself as it doesn't come more extreme than this:

This was one of those images where I was attempting to improve my colouring, especially as this card was recently sent to someone who has inspired me to improve my colouring techniques.

After spending so long colouring the image, I wanted her to be the focus (and I think it’s safe to say that I succeeded in that respect!).  I'm not 100% happy with the dress folds, but I was really concentrating on her hair, so can we just gloss over the dress please?  Colouring folds will have to be my next learning project!

So now that I've bored you senseless by rattling on about myself (*yawn*) it’s time for me to nominate and introduce a few crafters who have long inspired me.

And you won’t be disappointed.

Their own ‘Creative Bloggers Hop’ posts are due to be published next Monday, 25^th August, but you can pop over to see some of their gorgeous creations before then.  

I know you’ll love what you find:


Samantha @ Penrith Crafts:

I first met Samantha on the Stampfairy Design Team, and then subsequently we both DT’d on Incy Wincy before Samantha asked me to join her Top Tip Tuesday and ABC Christmas Challenge design teams.  Then, like the crazy girls we are, we decided to open another challenge between us, and ‘As You Like It Challenge’ was born.  Samantha has the job most of us crafters dream of; she works at Penrith Crafts shop.  Hmm, it’s probably best that I don’t have that job though as I would never have any wages left to pay for the household bills. 

Samantha: You’re one of my oldest and closest blogging buddies, and as well as admiring your work, I value your friendship.  You introduced me to my beloved Sakura stardust pens and I love your clean, simple and stylish creations with their soft Distress Ink colouring.  I also love how you try different things, like sewing, crochet and baking, and that we share hobbies involving a love of pets and veggie gardening.  The only thing you don't share is my fondness for pink, but I think I'm wearing you down in that arena because it's occasionally crept into your creations and clothing!  :0)

Larissa at Car-D-elicious

Ironically I also met Larissa on the Stampfairy DT, and her style is one I can usually pick out from a line-up.  She is also a Tiddly Inks designer which is one of my favourite stamp designs, so she's one of my inspirations there too.  Larissa's cards are consistently stunning.  Like Samantha's they’re clean and simple and she makes the most beautiful gift boxes too.  Her image is always the focus, and her pencil colour work is just stunning.  Like Samantha, she's a bad influence on the purchasing front, and I've 'had' to buy a black glaze pen (as used above on my TI Wryn image). And I am thinking I may 'need' a Silhouette at some point but I'm still managing to resist temptation for now!

Larissa: I have long adored the magic you create with your pencils.  The texture that you achieve, the beautiful designs and bright colours (esp the pinks!).  I love that you use pencils rather than the more common Copics that we see so much (I'm guilty of including myself in that Copic fan club too!).  Your creations make the colouring look so effortless, but having recently tried pencils, I have now found how hard it really is.  This has made me marvel even more at your consistently perfect pencil colouring.

Barbara at Cards By Barbara

Barbara's colouring skills are, in my humble opinion: Out. Of. This. World.  For example, I popped over to her blog to seek an especially outstanding one to link up here for you, and I ended up drooling over them all (again).  And yet still I could not finding one that was any less special than the others.  So, I'm simply going to say, if you are not familiar with Barbara's work, (1) where have you been, and (2) please go and pay her a visit, and drool for yourself.

Barbara: I frequently run out of new ways when I comment to describe how much I admire your painting with Distress Inks.  I've spent ages stalking looking at your cards to try to learn how I can improve my DI painting skills.  I fall in love every time I see your beautiful cards and I can only dream to be a tenth as good as you with a paintbrush. But to be honest, even that seems optimistic!


So, that's all from me.  

For those insomniacs amongst you who are still reading, thanks for joining me today, (and for staying awake).  

I hope you will enjoy Samantha’s, Larissa’s and Barbara's ‘hop’ posts next week too.

My uber CAS 'You're too sweet' card showcased above features Tiddly Inks' Eat More Cake (image and sentiment), and I'm entering it into the following challenge:

• Cute Card Thursday - Clean and Simple

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Holibobs Week 2 - Mission Impossible

After the excesses of last week (if you missed it and fancy a giggle. click here), I am on a mission (probably "Mission Impossible") to refrain from purchasing any new stuff this week and concentrate my crafting activities on items that I've already purchased.

There are no prizes for guessing how long I adhere to that optimistic plan!

Saturday:
Woohoo, my Lili of the Valley order has arrived, just one day after the new release.  What fantastic service.  I admit that I'd placed the order just one hour after the midnight release this time, but their speedy arrival was certainly enough to put a huge smile on my face.

On the downside, as soon as I heard the letterbox rattle and my packet thud to the doormat, I ran to the door (yes, literally ran) only to be faced with Mr Postie still stood outside the door, peering through the glass holding another parcel (for hubby).  Goodness knows why he didn't ring the doorbell; perhaps he'd heard me thundering through the house towards the door like a heffalump and decided to wait and see what would turn up.  It would have been OK if I hadn't been wearing just a strappy-top and knickers (and not big knickers either).  I nearly skidded when I saw his nose pressed against the glass front door. Doing a quick u-turn I passed hubby again in the hallway and squealed over my shoulder that he needed to answer the front door!

I had inked up my new images even before my blushes had subsided and spent the afternoon christening my Inktense pencils with my new images .  I must say that the pencils were harder to use than I was expecting.  I definitely need more practice (and maybe spend some more time watching You-Tube tutorials).

Arnie decided to keep me company while I was colouring, which made it even harder, but I can't really blame him for my colouring issues.  Here's my boy on my lap keeping an eye on what I'm doing.  I stopped stroking him to take the photo, so he's looking a bit grumpy.

Both fur babies seemed pleased that we're back from last week's short city break.  Arnie in particular has not let me out of his sight since we've returned, and I think he's going to wear out his purring motor because he's not switched off his engine all day.

Hubby was on his 'pooter in the evening, so I went in the other room to watch TV for something to do by myself. 

I sat through the end of Starman, half of The Phantom Menace, the news and the whole of Terminator 2 (which is a flippin' long movie), ironically with Arnold Schwarzenegger's furry namesake not leaving my lap.

I was desperately needing a pee by midnight, but unfortunately anyone with a cat will know that there's an unwritten rule that you can't remove a kitty when they're gracing your lap, so I corked it as long as I could!  

At one point, Pickle came in to find out where Arnie was, so I had both of them pinning me down.  Unfortunately Pickle was leaning against my bladder which didn't help (and let's just say that she does have a bit of weight behind her!).  

Here she is sprawled across me widthways, having squeezed Arnie towards my knees.

So, you're probably wondering if I managed to follow my 'no more purchases' resolution for even just one day?

Erm, well no, not quite.

When I inked up my new Lili images this morning I found my Stazon pad was getting a bit dry, so I ordered a new one.  My current ink pad has lasted about 6 years, so I think it's earned its retirement.

Does a replacement ink pad really count?  Surely that's classed as a necessity, right?

Sunday:
Today I decided to do some painting, but unfortunately not the creative watercolour variety.

About 4 months ago I bought some garage door paint.  I have no doubt that garage door paint is just normal paint, in a re-branded tin, with a higher price tag for a smaller quantity, but as today was sunny I decided that I should use it before it solidifies in the tin.  So after washing and sanding the door, I gave it a first coat.  Unfortunately I also got a decent quantity of the sticky white paint in my hair (don't ask!) which no doubt will be a bugger to remove later.  :0(

So did I survive today without any crafting purchases?

Unfortunately Sugar Nellie had an adorable new release today, so I'm ashamed to say I may possibly have purchased the odd one (or four) images.  ;0)

Ok, the resolution starts tomorrow.

Definitely.

Without fail.

Monday:
It was meant to rain today, but as the sun was gracing us with its presence we caught the train to the next town along the bay and walked back along the cliff-top coast path (about 5 miles).

This is a patchwork panorama (taken with hubby's phone) mid-route:

We stopped in a lovely cafe for some sustenance along the way and sat outside munching our lunch in the shade.  

I popped in Wilkos for a replacement paint roller so I could apply the second coat of paint on the garage door (yesterday's roller disintegrated as it was a bit old, and therefore left bits of itself in the sticky paint).  Whilst I was in the decorating section I also picked up a pot of tester paint in a really pretty pink (aptly called 'Pretty Pink'!) which I thought I would use to paint some MDF shapes that I've found while tidying my craft cupboard yesterday (in anticipation of my expected parcels).  

Hmm, I guess the tester pot really counts as a crafting item, doesn't it?

D'oh!

Tuesday:
It was forecast to tip it down with rain today, so naturally we drove over to Kingswear for a walk!  We left the car at the top of the hill and walked all the way down to the river.  
This was the gorgeous view as we came down the hill:

We walked along the train track to the higher ferry and along the river beside the old steam train track towards to lower ferry, and just as we approached the lower ferry the steam train passed us:

We crossed over the river on the ferry and had a lovely wander around Dartmouth.  We bought some lunch, had a picnic in the park, caught the higher ferry back and climbed back up the hill.  Exhausting!

Still, it was meant to be rainy today, and for the rest of the week, so at least we made the most of it.  We're hoping to go to the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary tomorrow (I love it there as I have a bit of a fondness for Donkeys, probably stemming from my love of Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh!).  I've got my fingers crossed it stays dry.

Wednesday:
The less mentioned about today, the better!

Let's just say that it involved

1. an early morning (the car was booked in for its annual service in the next town at 8.30), 
2. someone's carelessly discarded chewing gum stuck on hubby's favourite polo shirt (when he leaned against a lamppost) leading to an unscheduled return home shortly afterwards, 
3. a large bruise on my elbow so painful that I lost all strength in my right arm for nearly 24 hours, 
4. and, above all, a distinct absence of donkeys.

On the plus side, I didn't buy any crafting items today.

PS: in case you're interested, we learned today that hot vinegar applied in circular brush-strokes using an old toothbrush is the best way to remove a large smudge of ground in chewing-gum from clothing.

Thank goodness for Google!

Thursday:
Hubby's brother arrived this afternoon for a few days' stay with us.  He wasn't due until after lunch, so hubby & I popped up to Babbacombe for a walk along the cliff (and shared a bag of chips under the shade under a tree).  After his brother arrived, we had an early tea, and then the three of us walked into the cinema in town to see Guardians of the Galaxy.  I love going to the flicks, and we do it so rarely that it is a real treat when we do go.  The film was funny with its tongue-in-cheek humour mixed with a bit of mindless sci-fi fantasy.  :0)

Friday:
We drove over to Brixham and walked around the headland, had some lunch in the cafe and wandered around the old Napoleonic forts and lighthouse.  We've been really lucky with the weather again.

The boys are due to go jet-skiing tomorrow, so no doubt it'll tip it down then!

Saturday:
Despite the threat of Storm Bertha, it's actually sunny, so the boys set off for their 2 hour jet-ski taster session about 1pm.  I set to on some gardening, promptly tire myself out, and decided to sit down to some quite crafting instead!

About 6pm I realise that they're still not back, and I'm wondering whether to treasure the peace and quiet or phone the hospital to see if two wetsuit clad men have been admitted with concussion and broken limbs.

It's about then they turn up!  They had a good time, but the sea was quite choppy so they're tired and have sore arses from crashing over the waves!  I think they'll be sleeping well tonight! :0)

Sunday:
My final day of holiday, and while it feels like ages since I was at work, I'm sure by this time tomorrow it'll feel like I've never been away.  I remotely dialled into my work emails long enough to discover that I have just over 500 in my inbox to delete deal with tomorrow.

Welcome back, huh!

When's the next hols?  :0)

What ever you're up to this summer, I hope you have a good one.

Happy crafting
Annette
xx

Holibobs Exploits

No card today, but I've been off work this week on holiday (*yay*), and I thought I'd share the highlights of my week off in a diary-type post!

Please don't be put off by the length of the first day's write up; the other days are MUCH shorter, but you might still want to grab a coffee for this one!

Hopefully I'll give you a few giggles along the way too!   :0)

Saturday:
Let's just say that I started the holiday as I planned to continue ......

Over a leisurely breakfast I managed to order a stitched circle nesting stax from My Favourite Things
(Lisa, I'm blaming you for this after seeing them used so beautifully on your blog!).

I'd also previously purchased a single Inktense watercolour pencil on eBay to try out and, after discovering I liked it, I was pondering whether to get a starter-tin of 24 or invest in the larger 36 or 48 piece set.

So I ordered the full Monty 72 wooden box set!  ;0)

I'm possibly buying too many things lately, because I'm starting to lose track of what I've ordered.  As if to prove that point, hubby had ordered some new gym socks online  (I order pencils, and he orders socks : that seems fair to me!), so he toddled off to our local sorting office today clutching his Royal Mail 'while you were out ...' card to collect his new foot warmers.  He returned with two parcels and a frown on his face; it turned out that his socks were not the only parcel waiting for collection!  I opened up the rather large jiffy bag that he handed to me and found some stamps that I'd ordered the previous weekend which I'd subsequently forgotten about.  So that was a nice surprise!! :0)

It was a gloriously sunny day, so we drove up to Exeter for lunch, strolled along the quayside, where I sneaked into The Range to browse their craft section.  A couple more 'necessities' accidentally fell into my basket there too.

Can you sense the holiday theme growing here! :0)

Because we are on holibobs, lunch at Ruby's American Diner was accompanied by one of these each (no, they weren't both for me!)...

Saturday was a jam-packed day, because in the evening I took part in an organised 10 mile sponsored night-walk called 'The Sleepwalk' with a group of ladies from work (and 2500 other ladies) raising funds for our local hospice. The tide was right up to the sea wall, and it was calm like a mirror in places gently lapping the shore.  All the coloured lights were on along the promenade and pier, beautifully reflected in the water along the whole curve of the bay.  The group of ladies I was walking with were excellent company, so we had a good natter and a giggle as we plodded around the scenic route wearing purple t-shirts featuring Barbara the Sleepwalking Sheep that we'd customised with thick lilac feather boas and glow-in-the-dark wrist bands.  Not surprisingly 12 feather boas shed quite a lot of their feathers along the route, so anyone behind us could ignore the map and way-markers, and instead just follow the feathery purple trail.

Sunday:
After my late night, we had a lazy morning.  We nipped out early afternoon to a regional department store where I browsed the craft section while hubby looked at the books.  I consciously restricted myself to just one new fine-detail paintbrush (ready for the arrival of my new pencils !), so not too bad today.  Well, apart from the full set of new pillows and super-king sized duvet that I also purchased - but that doesn't really count as it's not crafting related, right!  :0)

Sunday lunch was a Cornish pasty from the bakery outside, purchased by a fed-up hubby.

The shopping excursion was enough to wear out the hubster, who then crashed out and snored for an hour when we got home.

Monday:
Not quite such an exciting day today.  I cleaned the oven door and and tried to unblock the bath plughole using a trick involving baking soda and vinegar that I'd seen on You-Tube (note to self - never believe what you watch on You-Tube).  I logged into my work emails to finish a few bits that I couldn't do last Friday, took Arnie to the vets for his regular blood tests and I renewed the car tax online.

Rock. And. Roll !

Oh, and I ordered a Embossalicious Let It Snow embossing folder. (well, it would be a shame to let the side down, even on a 'chores' day!).

Tuesday:
We set off to Bristol for a few days of R&R.  When we did the same city break last year hubby managed to book the train journey and the hotel for different dates, which we only discovered when we arrived at the hotel to be told by reception staff that we were a day late!  (I've not let him live it down since)  Thankfully this time he managed to co-ordinate so the dates actually matched (which is always handy!).

And because I was in full holiday mode by now, I was taking photos on the train.  This was the gorgeous sunny view looking towards the Shaldon bridge at the mouth of the Teign estuary as we left our local station:

To continue my holiday tradition, I managed to squeeze in a quick order from The Stamp Basket before we left.  I chose the Maja Designs Coffee in the Arbour paper pad that I've been drooling over for a while, and a few of the new Wild Rose Studio Christmas images.  Oh my word, they are all adorable, but I restricted myself to just four, and these are the ones that I've chosen ...




I can't wait for them to arrive, especially given my recent lapses in memory.  No doubt I'll have forgotten what I ordered by the time Mr Postie delivers them, and it'll be a lovely surprise all over again!  :0)

Wednesday:
We had a day of mainly window shopping and coffee drinking in Bristol, mooching around the shops at Cribs Causeway.  I had a brief look in WHSmith and bought a huge pad of watercolour paper that was on offer (in anticipation of the most eagerly awaited pencils ever purchased - all I can say is, these pencils had better be as good as I am hoping!)

I was then berated by hubby who took one look at the size of the watercolour pad and reminded me that I would have to carry it back home on the train on Friday. Ok, maybe it wasn't such a bargain.   :0(

Still, it could have been worse, because I had also seen a "3 for 2" offer on my favourite Langton watercolour pad in Hobbycraft.  Luckily I had resisted that one on the basis we have a Hobbycraft near home and I can pop in next week, hopefully before the offer ends!  Hubby rejected that as a positive, since we also have a WHSmiths closer to home too.  I couldn't think of a sensible argument for that one!

Thursday:
In the absence of knowing many craft shops in Bristol, I purchased a 50p remnant of white mesh netting (which I hope to somehow artfully use on a card or two) from a little fabric shop I found in the indoor market.  It just happened to be opposite the sandwich bar where hubby was stood in line waiting for his lunch, so that purchase was his fault really.

I may have possibly also ordered the new First Edtion Gilded Winter papers from The Stamp Basket. (thank heavens for hotel WiFi!).  They look lovely, quite similar to the Silent Night papers that I love so much, but in gold rather than in silver.

Friday:
Today is the day that Lili of the Valley release some new images and gorgeous new papers.  Based on the theme this holiday started with, need I say more?

We got the train back home today from our little city break, and it has rained pretty much since we left Bristol. I admit that I will be glad to sleep in my own bed and snuggle my two fur-babies.  I like to think that they will have missed us, but suspect deep down that they really only miss the constant between-meal snacking that they enjoy when we are at home.  They were probably perfectly happy snuggled on the duvet all day without me nipping into the bedroom every half hour to kiss a fluffy head and tickle a full and furry tum.

Here's a quick pic of my boy ... hmm, I wonder what he's trying to tell me ....

So, that's the first week of my fortnight off over so fast.
I already need to return to work just to pay for this week's crafting extravaganza.
It would have been cheaper to go to Spain for a week.
Or at perhaps camping in some remote location in the middle of Dartmoor where there's no WiFi.
Let's hope next week I show a bit more restraint.

Happy Holidays :0)
Annette
xx