Blogtober 2015

Sadly Cathy has decided to retire Blogtoberfest this year but myself and a couple of friends were all geared up to take part this year.  So we have decided to carry on under the banner of Blogtober, we have all been a bit lax with blogging recently so this is a great opportunity to get us back into blogging again.  I keep a record of all my layouts, cards and other makes in a notebook - I have quite a backlog to be blogged so won't be short of posts.

If you would like to join us then please feel free to join in - all you have to do is blog every day in October.  You can blog about anything you like, the posts can be short and snappy or even wordless - it is entirely up to you.  I have included a linky so if you fancy having a go, add a link to your blog below and I can come and pay you a visit.

Sy from KarmaCraft has kindly made us a little logo so feel free to copy it and use it for your blog posts.

A big thank you to Cathy and her friends who have run Blogtoberfest in the past - I have taken part for the last three years and it has always been very enjoyable and a great way to discover new blogs.

Me on Monday

It's Monday so it must be time to give a wave to Sian over at From High in the Sky.

This Monday finds me feeling like this -

 I stayed up very late last night watching the lunar eclipse, so today I have closely resembled the living dead and sadly no good photos at all as I only have a point and shoot camera which just wasn't up to the job.  Not to worry though lots of good photos on Facebook today, my favourite is this one taken by my friend Marjo in the Netherlands - a fab photo of the blood moon LOL!!!!

The weekend was a fairly quiet one, mainly looking at what I sold at the fundraiser and deciding what restocking to do before my open house party in November.

So there was a lot of laptray activity going on -

Also as the weather is getting more autumnal now, I cooked the first roast dinner since June, we have been mainly eating salads for the whole of the summer.

So Monday has found me somewhat zombified, so I have had a quiet day doing paperwork, finances and a bit of post it note pad making.

I hope Monday has been kind to you and that you have a great week ahead, drop by tomorrow to find out all about Blogtober 2015.

Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen

There is a lovely sketch over on Sue's blog for September.

 I used some photographs from last summer's Baltic cruise, taken at a splendid fountain which is on the lovely quayside walk from the ship to the centre of Copenhagen.

The papers used are Jillibean Soup 'Summer Red Raspberry' and American Crafts 'Rise & Shine'. I coloured a doily with a pink promarker and the title is cut using Sizzix alpha' die 'Naturally Serif'.  The die cut flowers were cut with a Joycraft die - I have had them for ages and rarely use them so it was nice to use something different.

Thanks Sue for a great sketch xx

Beat the Christmas Rush

Well there is only three Beat the Christmas Rush posts left - I hope you are getting on well with all your cards.  I had my first fundraiser this week and sold a few Christmas cards.  I have another fundraiser in November and should be fully stocked by then, plus I need to continue making my own cards.

Thank you to Sarah and Wendy who joined in last month, I have chosen this one by Wendy as my favourite

For my cards this month I used this cute image from Penny Black called Chill Day.

I used a spotty Stampin' Up embossing folder which reminded me of snowballs, for the background. The sentiments are by Personal Impressions on mats punched with SU oval punches.

The image was coloured with Promarkers and the fur was highlighted with Frosted Lace Stickles.

I hope if you are making your Christmas cards now, you will join in with Beat the Christmas Rush and add your link to the linky below.

Me on Monday

It was a weekend of pricing, packing, sorting, finishing stuff off and getting ready for the fundraising coffee morning that I was hosting today at my parent's sheltered housing community. 

But we still managed to find time to go on Friday night at our local theatre - Stand Up and Rock - a fun musical evening with Jasper Carrott providing the laughs and the Bev Bevan (ex ELO) band providing the music.  It was weird as we had only been talking back in March that we hadn't seen Jasper live for something like over 15 years (and he did mention that he hadn't been to Eastbourne since 1998 at the gig).  (This conversation was prompted by me christening the three lobsters in a tank in the restaurant in our Dutch hotel - Bernard 1, Bernard 2 and Bernard 3 - those of our age group and older will know exactly what I'm waffling on about LOL!!)  Then when we got home from our holiday there was a brochure from the theatre with the autumn programme in and the first page I turned to was promoting this gig!!

If you squint you can see me and Mr P in the middle of the front row of the raised stalls LOL!!!

So today found us getting up really early to be at Guardian Court for just after eight to get all set up ready for a ten o'clock start.  It was well attended and we raised £157 on the stall and a raffle, we were also given a donation of £25 from the sale of teas and coffees.  I am sure Children with Cancer Fund will be pleased with the amount raised.  Of course I couldn't do it without my lovely helpers.

Mr P did the raffle for us -

And my Mum and friend Carol helped me with all the selling

Dad was around too, helping with setting up and dismantling but managed to avoid the camera!!

So now that we have brought all the stuff home, the money has been counted and I have started making a list of what I need to make for my next fundraiser in November, I am going to flake out on the sofa for the rest of the evening and give a big wave to Sian over at From High in the Sky

Me on Monday

And so another Monday rolls around and time once again to give a wave to Sian over at From High in the Sky

Only a week to my fundraiser so most of the weekend was spent over the sewing machine making these (thanks Fiona for the tutorial)

I also cut up hundreds of old Christmas cards to recycle into gift tags

A little time was taken out of the making to join my Mum watching the Last Night of the Proms, Dad did a lot of eye rolling whilst we were flag waving, Prosecco supping and singing along very badly LOL!!!

So Monday finds me sorting out my three weekly Avon delivery

And sorting out the passport renewal paperwork (we were going on a trip to the Post Office to finish it this afternoon but looking at that black sky I think we might just wimp out and postpone till tomorrow)

Have a great week everyone, I'm getting back to my fundraising work - hopefully next Monday I can report on a very successful fundraiser!!

Me on Monday

It's Monday so time to give a weekly wave to Sian at From High in the Sky.

It was a weekend that began with an early start on the Saturday as it was a 12 hour crop that started at 9am , but it was worth it to spend time with these lovely ladies

 Fish and chips rounded the day off nicely

It was part 2 of my birthday with more lovely handcrafted cards and some more pressies

Thank you Wendy, Sy and Sarah for your lovely gifts xxx

And Monday finds me starting the two week countdown to my first fundraiser, posters have been printed and a to do list has been drafted

I finally finished the post it note pads that I started last weekend

If I disappear over the next couple of weeks you know what I am busy getting ready for!!  Have a good week everyone xx

With Love on Your Wedding Day

I was asked to be a guest designer for this month at the Penny Black and More challenge blog.  The challenge is Anything Goes and I made this wedding card for a friend.

 The stamp is from T for Transparent set 'Hugs' and the heart dies are a mixture of Cheery Lynn and Sizzix dies.  The sentiment is from Crafty Impressions and the image was coloured with Promarkers.  I coloured a second image which was fussy cut and decoupaged over the base image.

I had coloured a spare image just in case I accidentally cut off a tail whilst fussy-cutting, so I used that spare image for an engagement card.

If you get a chance, do join in with the challenge - there are always some lovely prizes on offer and you never know you might get asked to be a guest designer.  Thank you Penny Black and More, I love your monthly challenges and it was lovely to be asked to be a guest designer for you.