24th June 2016 Mailer

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LOURDES - NEEDS TO BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED by Wanda Lipski

I recently spent a week helping the sick and elderly from our Diocese on one of their twice yearly pilgrimage to Lourdes. It is absolutely incredible to see so many people, fuelled by their faith, willing to process in the rain, suffer hours standing and waiting, and willing too to be fed, put to bed, dressed and washed by well-meaning but basically untrained amateurs. This was my first visit as a volunteer, so I definely come under the category of untrained. And while I was wearing out my shoes, I was not designing anything. But Im giving you a look at two of the things that I did feel inspired to create when I returned, oh so glad to sit down in front of my computer ... Enjoy. PS Im no saint, but my husband is walking around wearing sunglasses ... It appears that my halo is causing sun spots !!!!!!!!!!!

cup716844_2237 by Wanda Lipski

cup716866_2237 by Wanda Lipski

Cobnuts Nearly Ready! by Tina Fitch

They are nearly ready the cob nuts, But I can guarantee they wont be there once they are fully ripened.. This is part of the tree I saw on Tuesday on our visit to Sheringham.. We travelled up to watch the F15 jets at RAF Lakenheath as normal then on to Sheringham, and I noticed the tree was absolutely full of Cobnuts with maybe a week left before they are fully ripe.. I picked a few to see if they would ripen but I doubt that very much, And I am presuming like every other year once they are rip the squirrels will stock up and take the lot! So next week when we visit I am expecting just leaves on the tree and no nuts...I have uploaded more new designs this week in all file formats for all machines..http://www.craftsuprint.com/tina-fitch/ Thank you for your continued support.

cup717993_596 by Tina Fitch

cup718004_596 by Tina Fitch

More crocheted Critters by Patricia Platt

My friends at Vale Wildlife rescue are having their open day on July 3rd and I thought I would make some items for their craft stall. I crocheted up some little hedgehogs and some Owl Keychains. This is their big fund raiser for raising money to keep the rescue going throughout the year. They rely totally on donations. Caroline started the rescue in 1984 in her back garden, it has now grown from looking after a few animals to looking after thousands. I am always amazed at the volumn and diversity of animals they take in. The majority of them are hedgehogs, which you all know are dear to my heart. Besides running her own rescue centre, Caroline and her crew always have time to help other rescues too. They run training courses to help folks look after hedgehogs, like myself. They pass on their knowledge and believe that sharing this knowledge is good for the animals in the long run. I do try to help them out as much as I can and when I can even though they are on the other side of the country from me.

cup717948_1416 by Patricia Platt

cup717068_1416 by Patricia Platt

Slug! by Sue Way

We had a lovely day on Sunday when my granddaughter Jessica & I celebrated our birthdays together & of course it was also fathers day. So my daughter Kelly (CUP designer Kelly Barker) made us dinner with home made Eton Mess for dessert, which was delicious. As it was a nice day we spent most of it in the garden. Jess played with her basket ball net that mummy & daddy brought her & the punch ball that we bought her. We also did a bit of Zumba dancing. And then Imogen decided that nanny-Sue would love to see the slug she found! Thanks Immy lol http://www.craftsuprint.com/sue-way/?r=968387Here are a couple my latest designs a new Elegant Lady & a new Fashionista. Dont forget to click follow under my name on my shop page, so that you never miss my updates.

cup718042_38 by Sue Way

cup717899_38 by Sue Way

Shortest Day by Joan King

We have just had our shortest day of the year and it was beautiful. The sun was shining and not particularly cold at 18 degrees and both hubby and I as we had appointments in town decided to take the day off from normal chores and have a long walk to the Mount and along the beach. We also had a lovely lunch out which is something we dont do very often these days. Winter just doesnt seem to have got here and we are half way through it now. Summer continued right through Autumn and although we have dropped down to 18 degrees that is not cold. Long may this continue. This photo shows the walk to the mount and then the walk back from the restaurant to the car. I needed that as I ate too much as usual!!!

cup714213_1716 by Joan King

cup718087_1716 by Joan King

Ninas 18th Birthday Party by Carol Clarke

It was my eldest granddaughters 18th birthday this week and we had a lovely big family party at a local hostelry to celebrate. There were a few surprises in store for Nina though the first of which was a This is Your Life Photo Album. Her Mum had put this together with lots of help from family member supplying photos for significant (or just funny! lol) events from birth right up to a couple of pages left blank for the photos taken on her birthday. More surprises included her cake .... brought out with the whole of the restaurant joining in to sing Happy Birthday, lots of presents but especially her special presents from her boyfriend which hed chosen himself ..... beautiful jewelry and a heart engraved with both their names. Poor Nina spent most of her party shedding tears of joy ... thank goodness for waterproof mascara! lol More of my On the Shelf Cards. Watch out for more Coming soon ... Just as soon as Ive drawn the characters! lol

cup717305_359 by Carol Clarke

cup717308_359 by Carol Clarke

Going Back In Time by June Harrop

On a recent visit to Quarry Bank Mill we were taken back in time with a visit to The Apprentice House. It is a reconstruction of the house that was built in the 19th century by Samuel Greg to house the pauper children that worked in the mill. The reconstruction resembles as closely as possible how it would have been for the children back in the 19th century. The photo is of the old schoolroom were we took part in some writing on chalkboards.

cup717645_703 by June Harrop

cup717757_703 by June Harrop

Volunteer Awards by Vicki Avcin

As part of my Fire Service work, I am the Admin Officer for the Hervey Bay Rural Fire Brigades Group. The Group supports 8 brigades on the mainland and 3 brigades on Fraser Island by way of training, Incident Management Team at multi brigade incidents as well as organising crews or crew changes, food for crews on the ground and providing equipment. The Group is funded by money from a fire levy only, which means we have to budget very carefully each year so recently we applied for a Grant. The grant application was put in last November and recipients were only announced at the end of May this year. Hervey Bay Group was successful and can now purchase an A3 colour laser printer which will be of huge help to print out maps at incidents and when planning hazard reduction burns and also we can purchase a tablet which means we can now drive round a fire and plot it out which will help in showing crews access tracks and the size of the fire. As successful applicants we were recently invited to a morning tea with the local federal member and were awarded a Volunteer Award for 2016. I was asked to represent the Group as our Group Officer was unable to attend. These awards were given on the same day as the Queens Birthday Honours list was announced and the Group Officer was awarded an Order of Australia for his years of contribution to the community with his RSL work with veterans and their families and his years with both the fire service in Victoria and Queensland over the past 35 years. Other members of volunteer organisations also attended the morning tea and the photo below shows me with some of the other recipients that attended.

cup715748_543 by Vicki Avcin

cup715744_543 by Vicki Avcin

Hello from the UK by Judith Henry

This week Im in the UK where we stopped at the Cambridge American cemetery and memorial. Then on to Cambridge to visit the various colleges. There was graduation ceremonies and parties taking place. Having a lovely time. Wish I had time to visit a few of my favorite designers and customers. Ghost walk tonight in York after dinner and then a night cap at a pub.

cup717228_2228 by Judith Henry

cup696742_2228 by Judith Henry

Its a dogs life by Kelly Barker

It always seems to be go go go in our house and this week has been no different, but I thought I would like to share a much calmer set of photos today as we do have down time sometimes! Here is my golden boy Baxter just enjoying life the way a dog does. This was early one morning before breakfast, I think he looks like he is having a good old think to himself and then doing a spot of yoga. I think we could all benefit from the Baxter way of life.I have been designing a lot of pampering themed cards this week. Here is one of my quick cards with matching insert which is also available in other colours. Thank you for looking :)

cup717804_1028 by Kelly Barker

cup717806_1028 by Kelly Barker

Some more highlights by Robyn Cockburn

We had such a wonderful time on our holiday in Scotland and Ireland. So much wonderful scenery - and very different to home! We are not used to all that fresh running water! Streams and waterfalls EVERYWHERE. And, of course, all of the trees and grass and plants are so lushly green as a result. One thing I found very special was the chance I got to hand feed some highland cows. Such gorgeous creatures. Another special event was our visit to Waterford Crystal. WOW. Sparkling beautiul creations everywhere. No, sadly I did not buy the beautiful, huge piece in the photo but I didnt come away empty handed. I have a lovely bowl sitting on tthe table just near me - we had it shipped. These pieces are so heavy and we didnt want to risk it getting broken on the way home.

cup717911_123 by Robyn Cockburn

cup718229_123 by Robyn Cockburn