Friday was...

...my Sister's birthday.

As she is a lover of candles & wax melts, I bought her an electric wax warmer.

This is the warmer that I bought and it looks very pretty...

...surrounded by her crystal collection. The light from the warmer catches all the crystals and makes them sparkle.

We have had a running joke about this gift.

I bought it a month ago (it was the last one that Naked Flame had in this colourway) and as I wasn't going to see my Sister on her actual birthday, I gave her the sealed box.

Our telephone conversations since have all included references to "The Box" and even on the morning of her birthday when I phoned to wish her a lovely day she said 'thank you' for her lovely box LOL

I took her to Naked Flame yesterday so that she could spend some of her birthday money on candles - just a few candles (**rollseyes**) - and when I took her home I was able to get the photo above.

I think it will always be referred to as "The Box" but at least we will both know what we are talking about..............................................................

After the rain...

...and the sunshine.

Just take a look at the "Flower Trees"...

...they have certainly come into their own, after a very slow start.
They are providing a lovely pool of colour...

...in amongst the tower blocks and building sites...

...especially as only 4 years ago, where you can see this crane at the side of the new tower block under construction, there was a row of beautiful trees and flower beds.
The planting in the 'flower trees' may not be as vibrant as the planting in 2012...

 ...but it is looking lovely and is a much better site to see than all the concrete & construction.
Our little oasis of colour...

...at the entrance to Stratford City......................................................................

And the "Totaliser" shows...

...that we have reached exceeded our target.

The aim was to raise £150 for the RNLI and yesterday we passed that mark.

As you can see from our totaliser, we have almost reached £180...

 ...so our first "splash" has been added to the chart...

 ...and we want to see how many more we can add.
The books are a fairly fluid thing as it seems we are given as many (or more) than we sell...

...but we are still getting a steady trickle of customers.

Our first sheet of the Shipping Forecast Sweepstake was completed yesterday and we had our first announced winner which seems to have boosted interest and sheet two is now underway.

We'll keep things running over the Summer and see what our final total is then.................................

The fund-raising...

...is still going well.

Things have slowed down a little with folk starting their holidays (schools have now broken up for the Summer break here in the UK) but the 'pennies' have continued to trickle in.

Here are the latest "makes" that I will be taking in to add to the stall...

...some more pom-pom key-ring/bag charms.
This one is just a mix of aqua and white...

 ...and looked pretty so I had a go with some pink and white...

 ...and the vibrant colour really does stand out.
I've been trying to use up odd balls of yarn wherever possible...

...these colours just seemed to have a Summery 'feel' to them.

I have noticed though, that different yarn brands vary quite a bit in their bulk. All the yarns above are Double Knit and I used the same pom-pom makers to make everything. However, the Summery clip is certainly smaller than the pink & aqua ones. I will just have to be careful with which pom-poms I use for each of the clusters that I make otherwise they could look a bit 'odd'.

The last of the tomato plants found a home yesterday and the books are continuing to sell steadily.

A colleague produced a Shipping Forecast map and we have been selling each of the Shipping areas for £1. There are 31 shipping areas around the UK...Dogger, Lundy, German Bite etc. and once we have sold them all we will draw a name and the winner will receive £20 - the £11 balance will go to the fund-raising.

We have just exceeded our £150 target but we will be continuing over the Summer period and will wait to see what the final total is before we 'call it a day'.

Hope you are all having a good week................................................................

Batch card making...

...for Christmas 2016.

Last year I used my Clarity large fir tree stamp to make my batch cards and was very pleased with the results. So this year I was looking for something that I could use that would be quick & easy.

Pinnacle crafts at Barleylands has just received its delivery of the Sue Wilson Christmas dies & stamps (these are the first release for 2016) and in amongst them was the darling little framed stamp called "Cosy Cottage" - product number;UMS734. It is not a huge stamp (just under 3x4 inches) but it looked as if it would be just the thing and at £4.99 it wasn't going to break the bank.

So at the crop on Saturday, I got stamping...

 ...and added some ribbon, self-adhesive gems, Spectrum Sparkle (Biscuit) and some diamond ICE Stickles...

 ...I went with two colour choices and as you can see...

 ...it was a bit of a mass production effort.

However, there was something not quite right to the 'look' in my mind.

Sunday morning I had a thought and added a bit of colour to the frame design...

 ...I think it was what was needed...

 ...and didn't take too much additional time...

...but I do think it is enough to draw the eye towards the scene in the middle of the frame.

For these cards, as they are a batch I have added the sentiment as part of the design.

I have dug out a couple of other coloured ribbons and will be making some more of this design in the two other colourways - that will give me a total of 20 quick & easy cards to add to my stock.

I love making individual cards but it is so handy having a batch like this ready for use.

I am so glad I noticed this little gem of a stamp...............................................

Saturday was...

...Carol Whalley's crop.

Last month we were at the Toby Carvery - this month we were in the class room over Craft Plus in Basildon.

I was determined to get some of my Christmas cards done...

 ...the Tropical Santa's that I coloured earlier in the week were used...

 ...along with some 6x6 scalloped card blanks...

...and some PPs from a Country Companions Christmas paper pack...

...these papers are a lovely quality and are double sided so there is plenty of choice - perfect for my Mo Manning Giggling Snowman as well as the Santa's.

All the images were coloured using Copics and in a couple of places the Spectrum Sparkle pens also got an airing (although you can't tell from the photos).

I don't tend to add sentiments when I make my cards as I will often customise them when they are needed.

I had a pretty good day at the crop - lots of chatter and fun but I also got 14 cards made and a couple of little gift boxes.

I'll show you the other cards tomorrow.........................................................................

It's turned out...

...nice Mice again.

For some reason, the shade of where I was sitting on Tuesday made my photos look very 'blue' so I had to re-do them.

By the time I got around to snapping these little cuties again...

...I had already fussy-cut them so that they are ready for use on the blank cards that I will be using.

This little miss really is blue...

...and is just waiting for a bit of bling on her wings to finish her off.

I did do another version of this image using traditional Red/Green but I think I deleted the wrong copy from my camera when I was getting rid of the 'iffy' photos taken in the shade - what a numpty.

The recent "Christmas in July" event over at Bugaboo Stamps made me realise that time is ticking away and I really don't have nearly enough Chrimbo cards for my needs. So I'd better 'pull my finger out' and 'get a move on'.....................................................................

Colouring ready for...

...Christmas.

I mean, what else would you be doing when the temperature is hitting 33C by 10am in the morning.

Tuesday morning the temperatures were soring and the perfect place to be was sat on one of the benches by the green over at Barleylands. The bench was nicely shaded and just right for sitting and doing a bit of colouring.

In all this heat you don't really want to be thinking about "Snow" so the tropical Santa's came out to play...

...don't you just love Santa in his 'shades'. This image also reminds me of how we used to bury Dad when we went to the beach LOL...

...at least Santa doesn't look as if he minds.
Sunny days means Pimms or fancy cocktails with umbrellas...

...so why should Santa be any different.
Of course, when it is hot the best way to cool down is with a quick dip...

 ...both the snorkeling Santa and the rubber ring Santa...

...are such fun - do you think that Santa's beard gets matted in all that salt water and just think of having to comb out all that sand...

I had a lovely hour or so on Tuesday sitting in the sunshine and then Friday I went back because I was meeting my friend Hilary for lunch & a natter. We had a lot to catch up on as we had missed each other the previous weekend (I had left my mobile at work and as a result didn't get her text asking if we were lunching on the Saturday).

After lunch, Hilary went off to her parchment class and I sat in the courtyard merrily colouring away.........................................................................

Gizmo doesn't like her name...

...so it would seem.

My Sister has been calling her "little tinker" or referring to her as "tinks"...

2.

Britishinformal

a mischievous child.

"little tinkers, we were"

 

...and it would seem that this little bundle of fluff will only respond to that. All I know is that she is a devil to photo as she stares at you whilst you focus the camera and just as you go to take the shot - she moves...

 ...one nice fuzzy shot through the baby gate and a rear view...

...after she had been looking at us in such a cute manner.
Lexi seems less than impressed...

 ...you can almost see the 'raised eyebrow' expression and imagine her saying "oh really; what is that cat up to now"

This was probably the best shot of the day...

...and the little madam didn't stay there very long.

So it would seem that this member of the family is now called 'Tinks' or I suppose if we are using her 'Sunday-best' name - "Tinkerbell".

All very different from the name she was originally going to have; Salem.............................................

Summer is here...

...for the moment.

The sunshine and hotter weather has been with us since St Swithin's Day (15 July) but the forecasters seem divided as to how long this lovely weather is going to stick around.

There have been hints that thunderstorms are on their way and temperatures will drop by the end of the week. British weather is always unpredictable so I'll just make the most of what we have.

Tuesday, Mum had an appointment that my Sister & I were accompanying her to, so I had a day off work.

As the appointment was in the afternoon, I popped over to Barleylands to sit in the sunshine and spend a couple of hours colouring. It was glorious.

Beautiful blue skies...

 ...everywhere you looked...

...dappled shade creating lovely seating areas...

 ...so not too hot but still lovely and warm...

...and although the craft village & farm were busy, it was still possible to sit there and think you were the only person in the world.

Oh, and what was I colouring?

Christmas digi images LOL (I need to re-do the photos of the images as the shade made everything come out with a blue tinge).

A spot of lunch and then off to pick my Sister up.

A lovely way to spend a morning............................................................

Gosh, this week has...

...been a busy one.

It was "Christmas in July" over at the Catch the Bug Challenge Blog. I was so looking forward to this because I missed their Birthday challenge earlier in the year. When I saw the list of daily challenges, I had lots of ideas...however, putting them into practice was another thing LOL

It has been hectic at work and with a few late nights getting home, I found myself halfway through the week and only one card made - eeEK!!!

Then the PC decided to go on a 'go slow' - I was really panicking but I made it by the skin of my teeth.

There have been lots of meetings at work this week and then obviously the outcomes of those meetings had to be put into practice - I just don't know where the time has gone.

I really hope things are a bit calmer next week.............................................................

Christmas in July...

...has arrived over at Bugaboo Stamps.

This post will stay at the top until the event is over - please scroll down to see new posts.

Details of the week-long event that started yesterday (Sat 9 July) can be found here.

There are lots of prizes. The fun challenges that will go 'live' with a link on a daily basis and you can hop over to the site to see what everyone is up to here and then scroll down to the relevant day as the information post will stay at the top of their blog.

This post will stay at the top of my blog for the week of the event and I will add my 'makes' as I go...so this post will grow as the week goes on. The daily challenges are listed below and I will add my photos as the challenge goes live - I'm hoping that I manage to get them all done; we shall see.

Saturday, July 9 – A Theme Challenge – 

 

My 'day-one' make features both snowflakes & a snowman...

...the post showing all the entries & DT samples can be found here.

 

 

Sunday, July 10 - Sketch

 

Day two and we have a sketch to follow...

...and I decided to go for a fairly CAS look, although there is plenty of bling & sparkle. Here is the link for day two's post over at the Catch the Bug blog. 

Monday, July 11 – 

 

 

Day three is asking for tags, so here we go...

 



 

...a couple of tags (I actually got to play with my new tag punch) and the post can be found here.

 



Tuesday, July 12- New Release + Bingo

 

Day four and I had to use a JJ image...

...and the bingo line that I went for was "Sparkly/Bugaboo image/Lime green". The image is obvious (I do so love the JJ images), there is lime green on the image & the embellies and there are sparkly flat-back gems and a bit of foiling to round off. I think that just about covers it. The day four entries can be found here.



Wednesday, July 13 - Humor Me Wednesday + 

Day five and a bit of a recipe to follow...

 

...some scallops (used my threading water border punch), bling (red gems & stickles) and layers (red tartan card). The post where you can see all the entries is here.



 

Thursday, July 14 - Oldie But Goodie + Photo Challenge

 

Day six, well the holiday Santa's had to come out...

 

 

...and the photo of the flip-flops made me think of Santa with his surf-board. Take a look here at what other folk came up with.

Friday, July 15 - Friday Freebie and Color challenge

Last but not least is the Day seven challenge which as you can see involves a selection of colours...

...and as you can see, they all appear in the coloured image that I used. If you want to see what the DT came up with, take a look here.

Phew, I actually managed all seven challenges. I really didn't think I was going to get there as this week has just flown by

 

Let's see how many I manage...well folks it is all seven, so I now have another seven Chrimbo cards to add to this year's stock.

 

But that's it for "Christmas in July 2016" - I hope some of you were able to play along too.................