The past few mornings have dawned bright and clear. I know this because I have acquired my own resident alarm clock in the form of a brightly coloured male pheasant who has chosen to perch on the top of a large rock in one of our flower beds and crow for all he's worth. Some people might not be impressed with these less-than-musical wake-up calls, but when I look out the window and see the early morning sun shining on his beautifully coloured feathers I can't help but be impressed. His ... VIEW POST
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A new day
Yesterday was both sad and uplifting, we marked our late son's birthday and ate chocolate fudge cake. In the UK my daughter and granddaughter released balloons in his memory. We were all grateful for the many words of comfort given in person and via social media, and I think the day wasn't quite as bad as we were dreading. Like every day since we lost our son, the sun set and has risen again. It's a new day and the future is unwritten, we move forward knowing that it's exactly what he ... VIEW POST
Orchids and angels
Today our son would have been 32 had he not died unexpectedly last summer, so I wasn't sure whether I'd feel up to creating something in my craft studio for today's blog. I had considered a scrapbook page, but to be honest that's still a hard task. So in many ways having his birthday fall on a Monday when I usually show you a project I've created for the What Will You Stamp? Challenge Design Team, made that decision a little easier. The challenge this week is WWYS168 - Climbing Orchid and I ... VIEW POST
Enjoy life
It's Mother's Day here in Canada and I'm looking forward to chatting with our daughter and granddaughter later today. It's also a sad time since I won't be able to talk with our son who passed away suddenly last year. So for today's simple Sunday project I decided to create a bookmark with a sentiment that really spoke to my heart when I saw it. It's from the new Enjoy Life Stamp Set from the Stampin' Up! 2018/2019 Annual Catalogue, and rather than explain what I did, I decided to film the ... VIEW POST
Spoilt for choice
Yesterday was another exciting day as I took delivery of some more new products from the Stampin' Up! 2018/2019 Annual Catalogue. It wasn't a huge order but it did contain some special mixed packs containing card in the new and returning colours, and a pack containing all the new and returning colours of Stampin' Write Markers. Now, even though I don't yet have all the new colour ink pads, I have the option to use the markers directly on the surface of the stamp, or to scribble onto an acrylic ... VIEW POST
A magazine technique
Yesterday I decided that as time was running out for stamp sets being retired by Stampin' Up! I'd should take another look at the ones I'm going to miss. Having focussed on Rose Wonder and the coordinating (and also retiring) Rose Garden Thinlits I thought it would be fun to do a stencilled image. As so often seems to happen in my craft studio, once I got started I went off on a tangent and ended up with, what I'm calling, my magazine technique. I began with a damaged copy of the ... VIEW POST
