March and still going......

Yes, I'm still hanging in there in the calendar 365 challenge over at the Kathryn Wheel This month has been a bit hectic to say the least and as normal the preparation of my pages was all a bit last minute.

I wanted to make the days of our holiday stand out so I used different coloured squares to the rest of the month and remembered to keep a little note for when I got back. Not that each day varied very much Beach, Drink, Beach, Eat - you get the picture. The paper I used for the holiday squares has little palm trees printed but I don't think you can see them very well in the photo. The background is a mixture of book pages and scrapbook paper and as it was my birthday this month too I added Happy Birthday from some wrapping paper. I think this background has been my favourite so far.

.......and what of my April page it's still in preparation but from past months you probably guessed that already.

Birthdays Galore

This weekend was filled with birthdays, mine included. I have lots to show you so I won't waffle on..... At the end of last week a little package arrived in the post and as I thought there was a chance it could be birthday related I resisted the urge to open it. When I did it contained a gorgeous handmade card and needlecase from Sonja Visit her blog to see more of her card making. Although she says she is card newbie I think they are fab.

This is a birthday card I made for a friend using my new greetings farm stamps and promarkers.....not forgetting the cuttlebug........

Another birthday card and this time I made an envelope with a seal with the recipient's initial. You can't see on the photo but I gave her a see through plastic umbrella using glossy accents.

I made this picture hanger as part of her present as the birthday girl LOVES Johnny Depp. I thought the wool looked like his hair as the Mad Hatter.........

To try out all of my new stamps I thought I'd make some bookmarks. I do seem to have gone a little stamping mad and colouring in is very relaxing. It reminds me of when I was little and used to buy those colouring in pads with all the mad patterns. I can't remember what they were called..........

For my birthday I received some lovely handmade presents. This picture was painted by my godfather. It's a firework flower painted on papyrus.

......and I have some very generous friends and family you just know that boxes like these are going to contain some really lovely things.......

My Mum created for me a whole album of photo memories. Now, she makes lots of cards but doesn't normally scrapbook so I know how much time and effort she put into making this for me. My brother may just kill me for showing these photos but maybe he won't find out........My Mum also stitched a cross stitch picture which I forgot to take a photo of but it says " I may be creative but don't expect me to be tidy" Oh how well she knows me. Apart from the time it took to stitch I now know that it involved tracking down a copy of cross stitcher magazine all the way from the Hebrides.

..... and finally any celebration isn't complete without something to celebrate with (even if you're celebrating being 40). A Firkin of Seasider from a local brewers Gadds

A Real Life Meeting.......

After first *meeting* on UK Scrappers I finally got to meet Michelle aka The Art Tart in real life at Olympia at the Stitch and Craft Show. It was fantastic to see all her work on display and so much more beautiful than in a photo. Can you see the pirate ship in the background? If you haven't seen her projects before you should go check them out. They are available as a PDF and have really clear instructions. I've made the little box of bliss and the birdhouses and if you're a member of UKS you may well recognise the Lollipop Guild LO that was part of the latest cybercrop. There was much to look at and admire and of course I had to make a few purchases. I couldn't resist the many fabrics on sale, don't you just love the dancing couples. I'm not sure what I'm going to make yet but the apples may well end up as a bag and the roses as an apron. The bead stands were really busy and there were lots of good bargains. I picked up some gorgeous crystal beads to make into more rings........and finally if you like needlework you should definitely pay Lazy May a visit. They sell really quirky embroidery patterns and the one I bought says "what shall I do today? bake a gooey chocolate cake. stitch a story. string some bling. knit an alien. felt a flower. build a rocket and fly to the moon........... Quite appropriate considering all the varied purchases I made. I'm looking forward to stitching it and as it's a 20x20cm design think I'll include it into a cushion cover. What my photo doesn't show are some greetings farm stamps and wool roving but I'll share those when I've made a project or two.....

This last photo is from my recent holiday. I just love the colours of the bright flowers which seem to grow everywhere in the caribbean. It seems ages since I did any scrapping so I'm hoping that I'll have a spurt of creativity and have some holiday layouts to show soon.

In the meantime I have new stash to play with...........

Dishcloth Fashion

I was having a tidy up - yes, it does happen sometimes and I came across some vintage knitting patterns that I'd picked up really cheaply. This one always makes me smile though, a man's knitted health vest in luxury finish. I'm really not sure about the luxury bit as it's supposed to be knitted in the same cotton as dishcloths were also knitted from. The health bit is a bit dubious too - have you spotted he's puffing away on a cigarette? How times change eh! Feel free to copy this image if you'd like I have checked and it's copyright free.

Of course if you'd like to knit your loved his own luxury health vest let me know and I'll send you the pattern ;-)