WOYWW - Journal Catch Up Frenzy !

Well the Bank Holiday weekend was very mixed weather wise - from a sunny Friday night stroll & pizza with Lynda & Robert down on the Mumbles to a rain soaked Monday !

So apart from a bit of garden tidy up and a lovely Sunday Lunch at a Country House Hotel in Wiltshire - I got to have a good catch up on my Journal 52 challenges !

I have got my backlog down to just being 4 challenged behind !

This was on the theme of Courage .. using up scraps of paper, some Tim Holtz stamps & one of the personal mantras I try to repeat to myself when I have challenging situations to deal with !

This one was Positive Words ... a good dig about in my "Words & Quotes" stamp folder yielded these stamps !

Very simple as it is a card of a painting that I really liked - this is "Favourite Animals" .. my Adorable Alpacas !

And now the theme was Passion ... I liked this quote "there are many things in life that catch your eye, but only a few that catch your heart - pursue those !" this is about my passion for all things Artsy-crafty !

This was "What Refreshes You In Mind Spirit & Body" ? I got to use a new Sweet Poppy stencil - recycled an M&S pyjama label and threw in a bit of punching for good measure !

A Day In My Life ... one my everyday Work Day - and my escape day last weekend !

A Page for Healing - Chakra Healing ... featuring the Chakra colours & symbols

Well phew - that was a blitz of Journalling but I was in the zone as they say !!

And I made a couple of cards too to get in the post this morning

This box card is for my Auntie who loves her garden ...

And a Thank You card for my MIL .. who is a very elegant lady herself !

Well that's my little haul from my desk this week !!

Just one picture to share with you - thought you might like this Red Admiral Butterfly on the Cosmos where we enjoyed a lovely Sunday lunch!

Have a great week
Ali x

WOYWW : Life Is Better At The Beach !

Well I was a "football widow" all day on Saturday and had the whole day to myself !

So I set out at 7am and headed down on the Gower to Oxwich Beach - the tide was rolling in fast but there was still time to walk for a couple of hours on the tide line scavenging shells !

I had a bit of a plan to alter a small sturdy box which Much Beloved had thrown into the re-cycling - it had had a half bottle of Jura Single Malt in it and just called out to me for new life !!

So with the shells glued firmly in place it all got a "paint-over" and a rub down with Treasure Gold ! 

The whole purpose was to create a box to stop my stamp acrylic blocks keeping tumbling over my work-desk ! So far, so good !

This weekend I also did a bit of other crafting - a card to celebrate the birth of a bonny girl to one of the chaps who works for me ...

I have "R" this month in Lynda & my Alphabet ATC Challenge - and Rainbow's came to mind !

And one more page in my Journal 52 challenge - this one about Travelling - quote courtesy of St Francis of Assisi !

Well that's me for this week !
Have a great crafty weeks ! Ali xx

WOYWW - Stitching Frenzy !

Well you may remember this from last week - the promise of stitching !

Well - the football season literally kicked off - and so with Much Beloved happily otherwise engaged, and the down-pouring remnants of Hurricane Bertha sweeping across the country on Sunday, I got back to crafting !
This weekend was about practical stitching !

I set about making bags for our holiday next month - a large tote in the waterproof oilcloth to carry towels etc and a couple of cushions for the sun-loungers !

And with the Cotton version of the fabric I made my first Duffel style bag - I had never set eyelets or made the threaded tubes for the cords before - so this was great fun !

And with the scraps I made an Oilcloth pouch - first zip I have inserted in years !! - a splash proof Kindle cover and a small pouch - not sure what this is for yet !

And as a break from stitching I did a couple of Journal 52 pages ...
The topic of this page is Nostalgia - I have this odd sensation at this time of year - even before Summer is passed I am missing it already !
This page allowed me to express how I feel ...












And this Topic is Friendship .. I saw this Kelly Rae Roberts Mixed Media Doll in a gift shop & couldn't really warrant buying it as I wouldn't know where to put it - but I did like it and decided I would borrow the image for a Journal page !

Oh and just one last project started - I found this out-sized MDF Fob Watch from the MDF man at Newbury last month - and used an embossing folder from the Chronology range to create a textured surface which I have just started to alter ..

"Watch" this space - sorry really couldn't resist the pun !
Take care
Ali xx

Poised for Stitching !

Well not much actual crafting this week due to the funeral last Wednesday swiftly followed by our fabulous weekend in Jersey which we had had booked for months.

We love Jersey and our favourite place to stay (out of loads of places we love !) - is St Aubin's & this trip we found a great B&B called The Harbour View.

It is located - as you may have guessed from the name ! - right on the harbour with parking, quirky but lovely courtyard, delicious breakfast spread and well appointed comfy room - we will definitely be going back next year !


The Island isn't very big - only 45 sq miles but each coast is quite varied one from the other.

Our favourite is the West Coast with St Ouen's beach stretching virtually it's whole length !
Stunning !

And we had fab weather so it was just the perfect weekend - sun, beach & gorgeous food - could we have asked for more !





And the seafood is truly amazing - freshly caught Jersey Lobster - yum yum !

So many great restaurants & even delis to eat in - totally DE-LIC-IOUS !!!!












So it was back to work with a bump yesterday & I was on the road for 5am heading for a meeting this morning which was even more of a rude awakening !

I couldn't show you this card week as I had made it for Lynda's lovely hubby who celebrated his 60th this week and it would have let the cat (or is that bear ? ) out of the bag !

So today the trusty Work-desk is more a scene of "poised for action" !

I have been inspired by this lovely Summer weather and this nautical fabric to plan a quilt - so far I have just created hand drawn scaled-up images of the Beach Huts & Lighthouses - I am going to create appliqué blocks with these designs & use the inspiration fabric as the background for these.

I haven't made a quilt for years - so am dusting the rust off both my brain & my quilting equipment & trying to remember what to do - I am hoping it will all come back to me when I get started !

I also have a few souvenirs snaffled in Jersey and some Lumière fabric paints that I saw at a great price - and some stamps from past copies of Craft Stamper - on the desk.

And over on my "overflow" table is some oil cloth cut ready to make a bag for my swimming gear - just need to haul out the sewing machine now !

So hopefully by next week with a fair wind & the blessing of the Gods - you may actually see something stitched !!

Have a great week !
Ali x