Been a busy few weeks and to end the events, it was my daughters 41st Birthday early in August. As the family has been so busy with wedding and pre wedding events we had a lunch for her on the Saturday.
A couple of her co workers and the immediate family attended with a lovely lunch at Grilld. Her partner had a gluten free chocolate cake made as her children are gluten intolerant. I must say I think its one of the best chocolate cakes Ive ever eaten.
We all enjoyed ourselves and it was great to get together (although we had all been at the grand daughters wedding a couple of weeks earlier) and be able to chat.
But so much going on at weddings its difficult to just sit and chill and talk. This week deigns are both for Christmas. Activity Books and placemats. Great to put in kids stockings or on the Christmas table to keep the kids occupied. Wedding activities also available.
Its been a horrible year for us as a family so far. I was diagnosed with breast cancer last October, so I had surgery just before Christmas.
The surgeons were happy theyd got it all, but because it was pretty aggressive, they wanted me to have chemo and radiotherapy to prevent it from coming back.
Treatment has been a bit of a rough ride, but Im pleased to say its finally finished!To celebrate, we went for a lovely walk among the sunflowers at Dunham Massey Ice Cream Farm, and of course, we had some of their delicious ice cream!My son doesnt much like photos at the moment
A few weeks ago, I shared with you about our granddaughter, Daisy, who is only five years old and is working on a school project about family trees and history.
This week, our son took a picture of her standing outside the hospital where I was born.
The hospital opened in 1854 as a school for underprivileged children and was later affected by a tragic fire in 1906.
Since then, the building has served as West Ham Sick Home, Forest Gate Hospital, and Newham Maternity Hospital. It has now been converted into a block of flats. Its mind-blowing to think that 65 years ago, I was in the same place where Daisy was standing!
My end-of-month SALE is now on! With 20% off of all my designs!
Well a week after her bridal shower (last weeks news) our grand daughter tied the knot with the love of her life.
They met in high school, went to her prom together, stayed friends until about 2 years ago when they got serious.
I swore I wouldnt cry when my son entered with Chloe on his arm but well it mustve been dusty in that little chapel.
When I first saw her I gasped, she was gorgeous, stunning and beautiful and I was so full of love for both of them.
The look on the grooms face was just so full of love as she came to join him and say their vows to become husband and wife.
Afterwards the reception was lovely and it went on into the night after the speeches, dinner, cutting the cake with lots of dancing and catching up with people.
Photos include my daughter with her brother (father of the bride) and with sons son. The happy couple honeymooned in the Maldives…….
What a wonderful start to their new life as Mr and Mrs. This weeks designs are both kits. One for a wedding with several topper and with Christmas coming a set of Santa Clause toppers. My sale is currently on too.
The Harlequin has been with us for many centuries. It was during the 15th Century, when it took the form that we recognise these days, a bright multi-colored costume with a pattern of bright diamonds or triangular shapes.
True or not, legend is that the costume was a way to relate to poor people in medieval times who had no money to buy new clothes, so they gathered scraps, causing the outfit to end up looking like a piece of patchwork.
Jumping in time to the present, the Harlequin is as alive as ever, even in comics. I love them. Looking at them makes my spirit feel lighter, happier, as if the Harlequin said do not worry, everything is ok.
The Harlequin is witty and agile.
This is the inspiration behind my collection of Harlequins in my shop. I thought it would be suitable to bring out the Harlequin to deliver your Christmas presents. The size of the images in the collection allows to turn them quickly into cards just by cutting the page in 4 parts.
That is the reason the sheets of tags have a background.
If you need to make a card last minute for friends, family or working colleagues, you dont have to find backing papers.
The backgrounds I have designed make the focal image even more outstanding. I would like to invite you to visit and follow my shop, more Harlequins will be appearing in the following weeks.
Even if you just visit for browsing, I am most grateful for that.
Its no secret my daughter loves everything Wild West and Country. What sparked it all off is when she watched the Netflix series Yellowstone and she was hooked. So bits of Western themed homeware, accessories and clothing started appearing and her latest Halloween decorations are cowboy ghosts.
Last weekend she had a girlie day out at a Country and Western style Festival. She had booked it a few months in advance and was so excited she was determined to look the part.
She didnt want to wear jeans so she chose a Western style dress, her hubby bought her the cowboy hat and she bought some boots.
Even Otto the family dog got in on the act for photos. She had a great time and Im sure there will be others next year.
… had another lovely fun filled day with our youngest grandchildren Olivia and Austin this week! Olivia doesnt like having her photo shown so Ive cropped her out of my photos!
We of course had to do some crafting! and we also fitted in baking ( a yummy Crunchy Topped Lemon Drizzle Cake) we also played board games, and fitted in a trip to our local park!
Phew …. What a lovely day!
Gift tags have been underestimated for a very long time, in my opinion. And in an age when everything is digital, a real present we can touch, a greeting we can hold in our hands and treasure, is becoming something rare and therefore even more special.
As a designer I decided to create something different and exclusive for Craftsuprint: oversized gift tags that will make any gift even more special in this day and age.
Sets of 4 cards on an A4 page. The idea is not to replace the precious wonderful cards, not at all.
In a world where survival is not easy, my thinking was: why not bringing a bit of surprise, of magic, a smile with large gift tags regardless of the size of the present.
Large boxes are particularly popular during Christmas, to wrap household items, large presents or toys for the young ones, so a large tag is the perfect complement.
Another way to use them is just to print different models, have them ready and spread them around the house for friends and family that visit during the Festive Season and offer them as a take away.
The tag will be, without a doubt, a treasured gift.
I have installed some new raised beds. Filling them was a real task. My husband and I trundled our way up and down the garden with a wheelbarrow, negotiating two different levels of steps which exist in my backyard, and the slope of the land to reach the veggie garden.
It took us 4 half days between us to fill all four beds, not bad since we are both in our 70s.
Now I can look forward to a very productive vegetable garden. Spring is almost here and Im raring to go.
… week my son and daughter in laws dog, Minnie, went home but we had a lovely day on Wednesday with our youngest grandchildren instead! lol we had a full, fun packed day, which included baking (we made steamed treacle pudding with custard - very yummy!) we also had a trip to the local park … but the highlight of the day was crafting! … Well who can blame them … we all love Crafting!
Id drawn and made some stickers for them to colour and prepared some corner bookmarks for rheum to make and decorate!
Needless to say we all had a fun filled day … and we are doing it all again this week ….
Now all Ive got to do is come up with another baking and crafting idea! lol
Last weekend was the town carnival. The family came to visit for the day, and we enjoyed a nice takeaway meal together. Later, the girls and I wandered down the road to watch the carnival procession go by.
In recent years, it has been a bit disappointing, with people merely handing out leaflets. However, this year felt much more like a proper carnival. Everyone was having fun and getting into the spirit, and the floats were fantastic. I cant believe how grown-up the girls look now compared to the old pictures I have of them watching the parade.
They still enjoyed it, though; in fact, Imogen got really excited when she spotted the Mario character walking past! LOL.
A few weeks ago I attended a bridal shower for my grand daughter. Such excitement as it came up to her wedding to the love of her life.
My son, her dad, drove us down to the winery in a huge limousine, as he drives them on the weekends for a job.
We all got in and off we went, lovely Sunday drive to Sarabah Winery. The day was sunny but windy and cool. The Bride to Be looked lovely in a white dress and it gave us a chance to speculate how lovely shed look on the wedding day.
I got to meet her fiances mother and the oldies all sat in the back of the limo and chatted like weve known each other for years.
The young ones sat forward and had the music cranked. Lovely lunch of various pizzas including dessert pizzas, a lot of wine and then back home in the limo.
Was a wonderful afternoon to help her celebrate the upcoming wedding in a weeks time, especially after a horror few months for me.
An advantage of living in Oxfordshire is you can have days out in London and my daughter and family took advantage of this last weekend.
The visit was planned and the sole purpose was to go to the Natural History Museum and the Museum of Science and Technology.
They drove to a town on the outskirts of the city and got the tube in. The Science museum was first as slots had been booked for the retro gaming area, where the boys had fun playing games on old gaming systems and playing game like micro machines etc.
They visited other areas where Harry got to sit on a toilet they use in space and learned about how astronauts do that.
The Natural History museum was very popular with the boys. Alfie enjoyed the volcanoes area and of course the dinosaurs.
They visited Portobello Road where I did ask my daughter if she broke out in song of the same name from the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks a favourite from her childhood.
She said she was singing it in her head. All in all it was a Capital day out.
… youngest son, his wife and my two youngest grandchildren were in London last week.
They stayed in a hotel not far from the the centre and did as many of the tourist sites and experiences they could fit in! lol including the London Eye (twice! lol) House of Lords, An Aquarium, London Bridge, Shrek Adventure, Buckingham Palace, Natural History Museum etc etc etc ….
My son said he needed a holiday to get over the holiday … his eldest, my youngest granddaughter said it was ok ….
But shed rather have gone to Cleethorpes! lol
After many years of crafty fun, the time has come to bid farewell to Crafty Bobs 5 Minute Game. Its been a joy watching so many of you take part, over the years.
Your participation and enthusiasm turned a simple idea into a community favourite, and were so grateful for every moment you played with us.Though the game is ending, the memories will remain.
Thank you for playing, for supporting, and for making Crafty Bobs 5 Minute Game such a fun favourite but the time has come to move on and create newer games for you to enjoy.*Big Hugs* Crafty Bob x