Big Friday Smile

What a Wednesday I had! 

I'm still smiling even though it's now Friday so I'm linking in to 

Annie's Friday Smile 

 I had the most wonderful surprise when I was "pounced" on by blogging buddies, Jo Twiglet and Annie Wipso whilst I was demming patchwork in the Abakhan Store in Liverpool. What a wonderful surprise and how lovely they are in real life and not just through cyber space. 
Annie's super DH drove them all the way from Shropshire to enable us to meet up at long last. We felt as though we'd known each other for years, (well we have known each other for years in blogland) and now I'm sure we will meet again and again in the future. 

This photo below, is courtesy of Annie as, darn it!, I didn't have my camera with me and as I still haven't found it (hoping it's not lost), I am not yet able to show the many more reasons for me to be smiling. I received bags full of gifts from these two amazingly generous stars, some for me, some to help raise funds for CHICS the Children's Cancer Care Support Group and two more beautiful quilts for the LillyBo Project. THANKS so much for everything but most  of all for being such lovely, precious, friends.

 Go over to Annie's blog for more Friday Smiles and you'll also be able to see more pics and her report of our fabulous day.

I hope to get back to regular blogging pretty soon but I've been so busy doing so much and going to so many places of late that something had just to give. Apologies for worrying some of you lovely blogging friends out there and thanks for the emails asking if I was OK. I really am fine, just bogged down with too much going on.

Fragrant Friday Smile

We recently visited Inglenook Farm to see the fields of lavender.                    (Note that the lavender was harvested a few days after our visit.)

 Be sure to check it out HERE, and it's worth a short visit if you are in the area.

We go occasionally just to look around the craft barns, to buy plants and to have our lunch in their excellent cafe but it's a must to go there before the lavender is harvested. It really brings a dose of happiness and contentment.

This week, after a dab of their excellent lavender oil,.... (bet you can smell it)....it is part of my Friday Smile, especially for Annie, and if you pop over to her blog, HERE, you'll be smiling for the weekend when you share several other smiles. 

Why not add your own bit of happiness too.

As the lavender oil produced is organic, all the fields have to be weeded by hand and there are plenty of huge thistles amongst the weeds.

I have a few of their plants in my garden and Hidcote is the variety I love the best.

The Peter Pan variety is darker in colour but not so rich in fragrance.

There are chucks roaming free around the outside area of the cafe and it's quite amusing to watch their antics.

What a treat to see some day old chicks.

 I'm also smiling this week because my two DD's and their families are all together in Germany. A rare treat and not long before this little fraulein, .....peeping over her Mama's bump with her special ted,... has a little brother.

A very special smile!

WOYWW and Image Transfers

I do hope Mrs Dunnit, WOYWW Headmistress, doesn't give me detention for being absent for two weeks. Please Miss I couldn't help it! I've been down to Brighton to visit my curly girlies, alias the Brighton Belels, alias two of my grandees. 

Back again just in time to attend Vicky Stampers last Saturday where Lynne gave us a super workshop and we had good fun this month improving our skills transferring images on to fabric. We then used our examples to make a book which also incorporated some stamping. Lots of inky mess, especially for me as I decided to colour my calico shades of pink, orange and red.  

I've been using the breakfast table to finish it off with beads and ribbons and some free embroidery. It's such a lovely spot to sit, especially as I can also watch all the visiting birds.

On the table there are also remnants of the card I made for my little fraulein's 4th birthday, next week. I hope she has a very special day. 
The Brighton Belles will be visiting Germany with their parents just in time for the birthday party so I hope they all they all enjoy this rare opportunity to have lots of fun together.

Looking through the window into the garden, I realise that I have another "workdesk" waiting for me  on the patio as there are several perennials, that we bought on our travels, all waiting to be planted but we've had so much rain so it has been impossible to get out there.

If you would appreciate a snoop on many, more desks just get over to Julia, the Headmistress of WOYWW, for the complete register of all those present this week. 

That's my desk for this week but browse on if you have time and would like to see the results of the image transfer workshop.

Recently Donna gave me fabric print which was just perfect to add as an extra  couple of pages in my book.

I will possibly add more hand embroidery when I've had a good think about it.

On Sunday we visited the Knowsley Flower Show and I just had to include these photos of the Mersey Morris Men performing traditional dances and they are especially for WOYWWer Lynne of Textile Treasury blog who is a part of the Norfolk Morris scene.(Spot the Liver Birds on their sashes Lynne!)

It was amazing seeing them throwing the sticks in the air, knocking them, swapping them and catching them. All good fun and so clever.

I think this dance was "Jenny Wren"

It is good that English traditions are being kept alive.

Despite the show being in the heart of the city, Knowsley is close to rural areas so it was a proper flower show and the entries were excellent.

One of my favourites, Sweet Peas, ... I adore their fragrance.

After being AWOL for a couple of weeks I hope to get round lots of your desks this week. 
If you've time... pop over to see what's the latest exciting news on LillyBo Quilts too!

Blog Candy Winners & Name Tags

I've just found this post in my drafts, which I never published, of name tags and badges I made some time ago. They are on stampboard and some have a space to etch a name so they can be worn at crops or workshops.  Some have brooch pins at the back and some hang on cords. They would also make good bag bling.

They are coloured with a mix of Dylusions and Distress Inks and Stamped using Stazon ink.

I thought I'd post this as it might give some ideas to make your own.

BLOG CANDY

As usual, I toot the trumpet, blow the voovoozelas and give a roll of drums ......

Tah dah!!! 

to announce the winners of my blog candy. It's LONG, LONG over due as I've not had a minute to sort it all.

So huge apologies and one good thing is that there are now quite a few extras to the items shown in the photo.

Thanks to everyone who entered and sent so many great quotes and I'll publish all the quotes in a post as soon as I can.

and the lucky bloggers are......................

The winner.....

is fairythoughts, Janet (who will receive the art travel book) and some arty surprises.

Some arty surprises also go to Gerrina as runner up 
  
If you will all let me have your postal details I will send your gifts out as soon as I can get to a post office.
My 300th follower Monique will also receive a small gift. (I already have Monique's details).

This Week's Drop Out!

I am so sorry that I'm not joining in WOYWW for yet another week as I've just had so much to do and I've had to stop somewhere. I could manage a post but I don't have time to leave comments and get around blogs so it's really not fair or good manners to join in the fun. 

I hope normal service resumes as soon as possible.

I was lucky to visit Donna on Saturday and thus collected UK Mary Anne's fabulous quilts for the LillyBo project and I have also posted Sue H's super cards that she made. Pop over there to have an ooooh and aaah! at them at  LillyBo Quilts. 

We did a bit of crafting, Donna made us a delicious lunch, and we skyped Dolores, (Cardarian) whilst we were together and showed her the pages I did in her journal, which is a gift to her from Donna who will also add a couple of pages in it before Dolores receives it.
As she has seen the pages I can show them here even though she has not yet touched the journal!

I really got too carried away with the drippy purple creatures on these pages. They are not at all my style, and I veered away from my intended ideas, but it was good fun to do whilst Donna and I nattered and generally caught up, as we haven't seen each other for a while.

I haven't had my fingers so ink stained for some time.

I should have time within the next day or two to announce the results of my blog candy draw. I hope you'll forgive me for the delay but I'm sure the winners won't mind when they see their names and receive their prizes!

Roses for a Friday Smile

We recently planted this beautiful rose to mark my DH's 70th birthday in June. It is appropriately called "Special Anniversary", but before we knew it's name, we originally chose it for it's beautiful colour and old fashioned fragrance. It has settled into to it's new home so well and six weeks later it is in full bloom and brings additional joy to our garden. 
The radio tells me that today is National Feel Good Day but we have a feel good day every Friday.

I show this lovely picture of it as part of my Friday Smile for Annie, so pop over to her blog for more smiles to happily start off your weekend.

but wait........there's another tale....

......  I want to tell you about another special rose we have in our garden........

This rose has been here since 1991, and was planted when my mother died. We chose a "Peace" rose as Mum died just as John McCarthy was released from captivity. (He was a British journalist who had spent 5 years imprisoned by the Jihad terrorists in Lebanon and it was something happy in the news at such a sad time for us.)

However the rose never ever flowered and eventually turned into a gnarled stump and but I couldn't bring myself to dig it out. 

This year DH said it must go, but I persuaded him to leave it until Autumn when I planned to move it to the back garden to see if it fared better.

Before long it was as if it knew what was afoot, and it grew a strong fat bud and fresh life came into it.

The greenfly had a go at it so I picked them off one by one and gave it a rinse of washing up liquid.

I watched that bud grow day by day.

Our gardener came to mow the lawns, as DH can't manage the heavy stuff, and he happened to mention the rose so I told him the story and he listened with interest and saying how special it was to hear about it.

He then proceeded to mow the lawns and ......

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MOWED OFF THE BUD ON MY PEACE ROSE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sad I know, but you've just got to laugh! I know my Mum would!

Here's the evidence!

Have a great weekend and stay cool.

Annie's Friday Smile

BLOG CANDY ALERT!
Don't forget, there is still time to add your name for my blog candy draw.
 It's in the previous post but closes on Sunday.

Friday Smile

I didn't think I'd manage it today but I'm having a stop for a cuppa and to post my Friday Smile for Annie's Weekly Cheer for the weekend.

A friend of mine upholstered vintage furniture but, when she lost the unit where she worked, she offloaded a shed full for me to mind. Years have gone by and I haven't seen her, I don't know where she now lives and her phone number is inactive, so I decided it's all got to go! The shed is past saving and we need a new one.

I faced the old garden shed, it's cobwebs and rotten timbers and started throwing out all her decrepid pieces of furniture, now just piles of old wood. DH relayed a couple of carloads to the local tip and there's a lot more trips ahead.

Unexpectedly, there amongst it all, a face was staring at me.....

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A big fat healthy toad, who must have been locked in there for years.

He must have survived on spiders and the rain drips through the leaky roof.

He wasn't the least bit phased by my clear out and sat watching for ages.

As I am only half way through the job I decided to leave him in his free lodgings a while longer and then I will do my best to catch him and find him a brand new superior abode.

He is quite orangey on colour and I intend to investigate his variety... anyone know? Has anyone seen a friendly toad like this before?

Tatton Hall

A few days ago we took a trip out to visit Tatton Hall and Park in Knutsford Cheshire. It didn't open until 1pm so first we had a stroll around Knutsford, it's charity shops where I found a cute little Denby Tea Pot for £3 (I always use a teapot for making tea) and had a super lunch in a Thai restaurant.

I love the quirky buildings there and La Belle Epoque, (a gem of Art Nouveau), now a hotel and restaurant, is one of my favourites. The front was filled with pots of geraniums in every nook and cranny available. I has inscriptions of the history of all the Kings and Queens of England on it's pillars and walls.

The Belle Epoque Building

A snippet of it's history from the web.....

"Created and built in 1907 by glove merchant Richard Harding Watt, the Belle Epoque features two pillars taken from the original St. Peter’s Church in Manchester, opulent marble pillars, art nouveau fire places – Elizabeth Gaskell Memorial Tower and Mediterranean roof garden are to name a few are the plethora of original features of the building. This building is the living embodiment of the Belle Epoque Era.

It is now a very popular wedding venue.

Kate has just pointed out the smiling face on this door below...I've been there so often and I've never noticed before! Thank you Kate!

On to Tatton Hall where we visited their Orchid house for the first time....superb!

In the hall there was a special Beatrix Potter event and, whilst they had a large section especially for children, all the rooms of the hall had beautiful tableaus of the various characters and I especially loved this one.

There was an exhibition of many of original paintings for her books, which were well guarded and no photos were allowed. I was allowed, however, to take pics of the original manuscripts but as they were in high glass cases it was a bit of good luck and guesswork to do so.

 I did manage these little gems as a souvenir.

 A little extra treat that I love for this weekend is that M&S have their £10, 3 course meal and a bottle of wine on this weekend, so no cooking on Saturday. A great bonus for me whilst it's so hot here. 
Yippee! I'm smiling and I hope you are too,

Have a great weekend and pop over to Annie's blog for even more smiles and don't miss the new quilts on the LillyBo blog

WOYWW 214 & Blog Candy

WOYWW? Shock, Horror, Eeek! There's quite a lot, I must confess.

(The blog candy is at the end of this post)

My desk mess has built up over the last couple of months, in between all my travels as I dumped things on there in between each trip. 

I can almost hear the sharp intake of breath around the world as you see this quite exceptional melange of crafty stuff. 

Well now you can heave a collective sigh of relief as you appreciate the start of my clean up. That's my handy carousel/lazy Susan with pots of essentials still to be sorted but there is an area of clear space and that's essentially enough for me to craft on at last.

Did you spot these two who look like they are up to no good!! 

They'd better watch out as they are going to be altered by me one day soon.

If you're brave enough to face more desks at Julia's stamping ground, rest assured that almost all of them will be far less of a shock than mine so you can boldly go where so many others do each week.

I attended a super workshop at Vicky Stampers on Saturday when Neet of Hickdorums blog was our tutor. Neet led us through many exciting techniques for producing special effects using various forms of metal and as my desk was clear I had another little mess about with some of it.

I also filled the first page in my new art book too but it has a way to go yet.

This is my favourite example from the several pieces I made on Saturday.

Blog Candy

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned some blog candy here (in celebration of my June birthday and reaching 123,456 hits on my blog) It's still running and will close on Sunday night 15th July.

Still time to add your name, so here's another tempting glimpse of what's on offer but there will be a few more treats included and something hand made by me.

For now, there's a plate of beautifully detailed Christmas Stamps, a Crafty Individual vintage lady tag stamp, 3 rolls of washi tape, a border mask of gears, and a sheet of raised pearly dots.

The main item, to be won in the draw, is a good quality 7x10 inch Daler Rowney spiral bound multi media art journal, with magnetic clasp and a paintbrush inside.

Everyone is welcome to enter, just leave a comment to say you'd love the goodies.

  There will be an extra entry for followers.

I love quotes, so if you leave me one of your favourite quotes you can have an extra entry, (and I can use your quote!) and everyone else can enjoy reading them. They're great for journalling too.

Here's one from me......

"In a world where you can be whatever you want,

be yourself!"

Please, only follow me if you are interested in popping in, now and then, because you are genuinely interested in my blog and not just because of the candy.

  

My intention is to give this chance of a treat as a thanks to all the people who spare time to visit my blog as I do appreciate every visit and every comment.