I'm Feeling Really Blessed!

Since I was off for a few months this year with Labyrinthitis I have a whole bunch of annual leave to use up so I took a few days off this week and boy were they packed full.  I spent Wednesday stamping, cutting and preparing for a craft session today and took a trip to Birmingham to the NEC for the Hobbycraft show yesterday.

I was fortunate enough to be asked by Amanda and Kay if I wanted to go with them and they even had free entry passes which was pretty cool.  I feel really blessed to even have been thought of when they were thinking who they'd like to ask along and it was just like old times being together again.  I miss hanging out with these gals like we used to.  We all get along so well and it's never ever felt like two's company, three's a crowd kinda thing.  It's just a joy to be exactly who we are and we always have fun when we're together.

I didn't take too many photos of the event - I was way too busy looking at everything and jostling with the crowds and numerous mobility scooters! Who knew that so many crafters used them?  They were EVERYWHERE.

We had actually come for the cake show but had the wrong day so I'm really glad the Hobbycraft show was on or we would've had a completed wasted trip.

I should've taken way more photos of projects that were up and around since there were so many fab samples but it's funny how you mean to do something and then realise once you've left isn't it? 

This was a box that was beautifully decorated with pretty paper flowers on the Craftwork Cards stand.

And what fun is this Christmas tree made using card candy?  It reminds me of a whole bunch of Smarties so no wonder it looks good enough to eat.

And this is what I've been creating the past couple of days, more cards for charity, more Waltzing Mouse Stamps and getting geared up for Christmas no less.  I had planned to do some crafting at church with a few girlies today and as chance would have it I got to go to the ladies bible study group this morning too.  They are such a lovely group of women, some very talented and all so friendly.  This is only my second visit to the group since I usually work Fridays but I have felt very blessed on both occasions so I hope it won't be my last.  Oh and one really sweet gal baked cakes and added a pretty cake poke into each.  The cake pokes were marked up with the number (chapter and verse) of a verse of scripture.  When we looked it up it turned out to be Psalm 34:8 'Oh taste and see that the Lord is good .......'  How cool is that?  I am going to log that idea in my memory bank for future use.

This first card features a stamped musical background square which has then had the edges distressed, inked and my favourite faux stitching added with a pattern tracing wheel.  I added a simple stamped text block with distressed and inked edges on all layers.  I made the holly by first inking in green ink on white card stock, then stamping the leaves and finally adding a pretty WMS text background over the top to finish.  The red berries are made using card candy.

I finally got a chance to use my new ornament dies with these fabby WMS ornament stamps and I love the way you can cut out the centre and stamp inside it.  I have chosen a few different text stamps for the cards so we can change them up a bit and offer a bit more variety in a single design.

I would have loved to be able to say we made up a whole bunch of cards today at church but I knew that was never going to be the case.  Perhaps if I'd gone for a more simple design maybe because it was surprising just how many different steps were involved in these mini cards.  Still I have all the various elements ready so all I have to do is assemble them, make liners and bag em' up to be finished. Then I have a few more Christmas card kits to do up and that's me done with charity cards for this year I think.  I will have to get busy on the craft workshops and make a start on getting some of my own Christmas gift projects started before too long.

Time is flying by way too fast right now and I know no matter how much I plan I have yet to get all my Christmas projects done in time for Christmas.  For now I am beginning to feel really tired.  Too many early starts and late finishes over the past few days I think and it's finally catching up with me.  It's just about 10 pm so I think it's time to head off to Bedfordshire.

Here's hoping you're all headed for a wonderful weekend.  A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone that has blessed me in some way recently.

Blessings

Suezie