10th April 2020 Mailer

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FREE ON CD 

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Spend just £10 and you will be awarded 24hrs unrestricted VIP access to the latest 20 Freebies offered by our fantastic Designers! Don't delay order today. Please note, the vault is subject to change as and when new submissions are added.

Beat The Boredom by Linda Short

My Granddaughter Amelia has been making Beat the Boredom bags by filling party bags with preloved books and toys. This has evolved into her setting up a table at the end of our drive she has sorted out old games and puzzles and these have proved very popular with families out for a stroll. Tomorrow we are raiding the loft for further treasures for her table.

Black Raven Pride F18 Growler by Tina Fitch

VAQ-135 Black ravens took part in the military excercise in Nellis this year, Not seen them before and they had special painted livery too which I just loved,The EA-18G Growler aircraft represents the most advanced technology in airborne Electronic Attack and stands as the Navys first line of defense in hostile environments and I have to say very much fun to watch.I am hoping this lock down passes soon as the next RED Flag is in July and as I missed most of it in March due to having to come home early Id like to go back.This weeks featured items are a 3D Hat and Box template which I originally designed back in 2014 with roses can now ben found with Lilies..Stay safe everyone

All files in all formats here https://www.craftsuprint.com/tina-fitch/

cup1037237_596 by Tina Fitch

cup1001733_596 by Tina Fitch

Feeling Thankful... by Clare Walker

There have been just so many reasons to feel thankful this week. From the recovery of loved ones (from mercifully mild symptoms) to being so happy and grateful that CUP exists and has kept running...To thanks for the gardening efforts of our neighbours, whose beautiful blossom tree you see in this photo...And thank you to everyone taking the time to read this, and to support designers here, when so much else is happening. Take care of yourselves, and have the happiest Easter you possibly can. x

Keeping thanks going, these new daisies, and everything else in my shop are *20% off* from Good Friday to the end of Easter Monday.

cup1037226_79993 by Clare Walker

cup1036896_79993 by Clare Walker

Koality Needle Felting by Janice McFarlane

At the beginning of the year I started a new hobby of needle felting. I started off with small projects making, little brooches and miniature koalas. My latest project completion, which took me a while as I only do it on weekends was to needle felt a complete full bodied Koala. This was indeed a challenge as the sculpting was so different making larger body, head and limbs. Then had a go at attaching a longer furry coat to the chest area. Proportion to was quite fiddley, but with patience I am pleased with the end result. Kevin, (thats what Ive called him) sits about 8 high, and sits on my desk. I think Im a bit obsessed with Koalas ever since I was asked to crochet some for an animal charity in Australia to help raise funds for those caught in the bushfires. I am currently working on another one, which challenges me further as it has wire armature inside. This one will be a sleepy koala and Im looking forward to the finished result. Needle felting isnt a quick hobby, depending on the size of the project, but I do find it very therapeutic.

cup1037073_905 by Janice McFarlane

cup1037374_905 by Janice McFarlane

Lockdown crafting by Anne Lever

My daughter is a crafter, she sews, she makes, she knits she crochets etc. The lockdown has given her lots of time to do the things she never got round to before, like sewing a new ironing board cover! The old one has a massive hole in it that has been there for years. It didnt take her long, and she much prefers to use the board now it doesnt have a massive hole in it!

cup1037128_1763 by Anne Lever

cup1037132_1763 by Anne Lever

Sophies experiments by Carol Dunne

Now that the children have to stay at home because of the Covid 19 virus it is a challenge to keep them busy. My grand daughter ( Sophie ) has been busy experimenting with dying eggs ( hard boiled of course) I was very impressed with these ones as she also made the dye out of natural plants, these eggs were dyed with onion skins and red cabbage.

cup1037530_173 by Carol Dunne

cup1037532_173 by Carol Dunne

School .... by Carol Clarke

... 2020 Home Style! These extraordinary times have meant some extraordinary changes. We can no longer see our grandchildren in person but via video calling, phone calls, texts and photos we are thankfully able to stay in touch will everything they are doing. Of course school is another change theyve had to embrace too! Our youngest ones Mum is a key worker but as dad isnt hes now the one staying home and making sure theyre doing their home schooling instead! lol Luckily we are all well and I hope that all our lovely CUP family are staying Safe & Well too!

cup1035215_359 by Carol Clarke

cup1035217_359 by Carol Clarke

Devastation by Vicki Avcin

Our orange tree was laden with oranges again this year and we thought great, plenty of Vit C to eat and juice coming into winter. Imagine waking up one morning with nearly half the crop on the ground. We had no idea why. So looked in our local gardening group and found lots of other locals also had the same thing happen to their trees also. This has never happened in the area before. Lots of googling happening and calls to agricultural places put it down to a Fruit Sucking Moth also known as Fruit Piercing Moth. These moths attack near ripe and ripe fruit at night, the reason no one saw them. Once we knew what it was, it was night patrol in our gardens where we found these huge moths in their hundreds. The wings are typically dark brown with distinctive orange markings and they pierce the skin of just about any fruit and suck out the liquid contents. Only sign is a black spot at the point of entry and the flesh around is soft and pulpy or dry and pithy depending on the type of fruit. There is very little in the way of killing them as because fruit is so close to ripe, chemical sprays cannot be used. Fruit can be covered with paper or cotton cloth or picking the fruit before it is ripe. Bug zapper lights only work to an extent but because of the amount of them some have taken to playing tennis by torchlight. We put out fruit each night for our resident possum but they have even found that, so with torch in one hand and a fly swatter in the other we are killing about 20 a night! Nearly everyone now has lost most of their fruit crop around here, oranges, lemons, bananas, persimmons, paw paws, and other fruits if it was allowed to tree ripen, its now gone! The picture shows the moths on the possums apple and one nights loss of oranges.

cup986829_543 by Vicki Avcin

cup986830_543 by Vicki Avcin

First crocus by Judith Henry

Isolation makes one look at nature in a different way. So from my window I can see the tulips coming up even though the rabbits and squirrels are nibbling on them. The daffodils are coming up in big bunches. Want to make flowering cards with these beauties. But we realize that cardmaking is good therapy even though the number of occasions such as weddings are on hold. I hope you all are surviving the isolation.

cup1037376_2228 by Judith Henry

cup1036548_2228 by Judith Henry

Lockdown on an Island by Sheila Rodgers

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all safe and well. Here on the Isle of Mull life has become very different for some people. The ferry is our lifeline to the mainland and we (my husband and I) normally make the trip over to Oban with our car to do our main food shopping but now we are not allowed to leave the island unless it is for a vital reason and no-one is allowed to come onto the island unless they are a resident (eg if someone has had a vital hospital appointment) or if it is someone making necessary deliveries (eg post or food). We have been doing our shopping in our small local Spar shop - which we normally use anyway but not for everything. This is the only shop in our village. Fresh fruit and veg have been a little difficult to get some days, and some days we cant get bread. You can imagine our delight when our local Facebook group put out a call last week to say that a HUGE shipment of fresh fruit and veg had arrived from Glasgow and was being divided up and given to everyone on the island for FREE! We have local volunteer groups working every day to help anyone who needs it, and they all rallied together and organised the deliveries in a way which would have made the army proud. We all got a large bag or box of fruit and veg - and it seems everyone got loads of bananas because since then there have been lots of posts about people making banana loaves, muffins and ice-cream. Lol. Some people got veg they didnt recognise and had to Google it to see what it was! But it cheered the spirits and renewed everyones faith in people. Times are tough everywhere but here we feel blessed that we live in such a beautiful place, we can go for walks without meeting anyone else, friends check on friends and neighbours as a matter of course, not just during a pandemic. We are busy making masks for our local hospital and I am making sore ear savers for a hospital in England where I have family members working. Look after yourselves, stay safe and do your crafting to take your mind off the bad things. You will have lots to sell when this is all over! With love, Sheila.

cup1037044_66 by Sheila Rodgers

cup1037138_66 by Sheila Rodgers