Tuesday 28 April 2015

WOYWW Weather for Ducks ?

Spent a lovely weekend around the Cotswold area with my Mum & Dad - and even though the sun - having shone all week - didn't make a weekend appearance, thankfully the rain held off !
Mum loves birds so we headed over to Gloucestershire and the Wildfowl Wetlands at Slimbridge.

We spent a very happy feathery morning wandering around looking at all the ducks (and I still can't believe that there is really an Australian duck called the Wandering Whistling Duck or an American one called a Bufflehead !!), swans, geese and even saw otters, water voles & harvest mice!
We had a wander around Bourton on the Water & then went onto Cirencester (which we really like !) for afternoon tea.

Our hotel just north east of Swindon was very comfortable - the gardens were full of gorgeous
blossom - and the food was yummy !
All in all a lovely weekend and a greatly appreciated chance to spend time with my parents !


Not much I can show you on the old work-desk today !
This is the rear of the birthday card I have made for Lynda - no sneak peaks I'm afraid !



And the one thing I do have is my April Tag challenge - this month we had the challenges "Metalwork" & "Stamping"  - it was a bit of a challenge to combine these two !
But I really enjoyed hauling out my box of metal tools - dating back  to the Paperartsy crafting weekends !
It was fun remembering all the techniques I learnt on the weekends.

The bright green metal is in celebration of the fact that April is the month of bud break - now I am driving to work along leafy lanes rather than through rows of bare branches !
And I love this quote - being a life-long gardener I think this sums up the sentiment of working in the garden at this stage of the spring !

I am always grateful for the feeling of having made it through another winter !
Have a great crafty week Ali xx

Wednesday 22 April 2015

WOYWW Cards & Stuff !

Late to the world of  WOYWW this week due to busy evenings !

Just a few bits & bobs of crafting happening on my desk this week ..









I made this card for Much Beloved's birthday last week but couldn't show you in case he saw it on here !

I used the Cardwork Card papers I bought at Ally Pally and added ribbons and metal charms and was quite pleased with how it turned out ! 
Something I didn't find at Ally Pally were the new Distress Inks - they seem to be like hen's teeth with all the on-line suppliers being out of stock but I have managed to track these two colours down so far !

Much Beloved's nephew is heading down to New Zealand next month to train as a pilot - so he designed a card & I helped him put it together. 

A lot of my time this weekend was spent in the garden - enjoying the spring flowers !



 Have a great crafty week !
Ali x

Tuesday 14 April 2015

WOYWW - Ally Pally Outing !

Well, we girls from our Craft Club were up before dawn on Saturday - and on the road by half 6 !
We headed up the M4 in the rain - damp but no dampened spirits !
We reached Ally Pally by just after 10 and  appreciated the free parking & friendly parking attendants & shuttle bus driver.
We always comment how different it is to the NEC which we visit in November - where they charge us £10 per car and are never exactly welcoming !
We quickly set to shopping of course - most of us had a little (!!!) list - but still got tempted by some new goodies !
Here we all are with bags a bulging !


Lynda & I were happy to see fellow desker Helen - also in shopping mode !

So on my desk today is my new stash - mainly stamps, stencils & inks











- with a few Fresco paints to replace ones I have used up !





And I just had time on Sunday - after catching up on chores & a dash round the shops - to make my Nephew's birthday card. I found these Pirate papers (which must have been a freebie with a magazine at some point) and thought they were fun for a boy's card !

Wednesday night we have our craft club meeting - everyone is bringing their bounty from Saturday - so we can all ooh & aah over lovely goodies and even share some of them !

Have a fun crafty week !
Ali xx

Tuesday 7 April 2015

WOYWW - Easter Sun & Fun !

Well the house is sadly quiet again tonight as sadly my Sister & her family have returned home but we have had a lovely long Easter weekend together - with loads of amazing sunny weather to make it a perfect time !
Lynda took this lovely photo of my Sister & I when we all had dinner together on Good Friday ...







We started their visit by visiting the Ancient Egypt centre at the University in the city - the centre is staffed by volunteers who helped with quizzes & info and even a practical mummification lesson including removing the brain with a crochet hook & internal organs !! (happily for all involved the mummy was made of fabric !!)












Obviously having a photo with Anubis God of Death was an opportunity not to be missed !
Amazing he wears a T-shirt just like my nephew's !

We had trips to a local ruined castle (atop a seriously windy hill top !) and saw lambs just 10 minutes old ...










Sunday we fed wallabies at the Wildlife Park in Pembrokeshire - and saw all their other animals from Rhinos to Meerkats - so amazing to walk around in short sleeved tops for much of the day !






We managed to have picnics and even two afternoons messing around on the beach - even the tide was on our side and presented us with the vast sandy beaches we enjoy around our Welsh coastline.




 So with all that going on as you may imagine not much time was found for crafting but my youngest Nephew associates trips to his Auntie's with making a scrapbook of his adventures !








And this year I introduced him to the idea of stamping his page titles - it was a big hit !

I have a lot to scrapbook myself too with all the photos we took !
 All being well we are planning a Craft Club girls day out to Alexandra Palace Stamping & Scrapbooking show on Saturday ... anyone else going ?

Have a great crafty week ... Love Ali x