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Sunday 13 May 2012

THE SUN HAS GOT HIS HAT ON, HIP, HIP, HIP , HOORAY

Hi everyone

The sun has got his hat on and he's coming out to play.  Woo hoo!  Please don't tell me I have been dreaming? It has really been wall-to-wall sunshine for the last three days hasn't it?  Like everyone, I love the feeling being in the sun gives me - warmth, enthusiasm and motivation.  Even the toughest old Dandelion causes no problem, I feel quite cheerful when I chop it's head off!  The only thing in their favour is they are a gorgeous shade of yellow - oh yes, they are supposed to make a pretty good wine too and apparently the leaves should be picked in April and/or May when they are at their best.  Up until last week we had plenty of these 'lovely' weeds so perhaps my make for this week's Handmade Monday should have been Dandelion Wine.  Many years ago we used to make wine quite regularly, but I remember the best home made wine I have ever tasted was one a friend made from Elderberries.  It was soooo good, rich, red and very potent.  Rather like Tom Good's Peapod Burgundy - you only drank one glass of his because it took the skin off the back of your throat, my friend's Elderberry concoction took your head off.

A big thank you to Ann of Tickled Pink Crafts for her great post as my latest Friday Guest Blogger.  If you haven't had a chance to read Ann's post, I recommend you do - apart from interesting details about the background to Ann's business, there are some lovely pics of her work.  Thank you Ann for joining my growing gang of Friday Guest Bloggers (FGBs).  I am playing around with a badge for everyone to place on their blog that will link back to their post on here - a little more promotion for all of us.  Don't forget if you want to promote/write about your business, a particular project you are working on, a hobby or something completely different to what you normally blog about, you are very welcome to join the FGBs.  If you need any further information, please email me on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.

A thank you too to everyone who commented on my blog posts during the last week - all very much appreciated by me and my guest blogger.

Two of the cards I finished this week were to be added to this week's post - I am embarrassed to say I forgot to take photographs of them.  So, this is stretch your imagination time.  I will give you what the brief for each one consisted of, and you can decide in your own mind what the finished cards looked like.  Card No 1 was for a lady who owns a red Porsche Careera, has 3 Burmese cats (2 cream and 1 lilac), likes red wine, champagne and vodka.  Card No 2 was for a man who likes beer, golf, Bruch Violin Concerto (a beautiful piece of music) and has two ginger and white cats called Ben & Jerry (clearly an ice-cream fan).  Both cards were easy to do and to represent the champagne and red wine I used maps of the growing areas for the back-ground and I was able to download some copyright -free Bruch sheet-music.  My customer was pleased with the cards - hope the people she gave them too were also pleased.

I have a birthday card and a wedding congratulations card to make by Tuesday and I will definitely take pics of them this time and post them on next weekend's Blog post.  Time permitting, I also want to make some Father's Day cards to put on my wall at Bourne Mill on Monday.

My computer is still misbehaving, although I can use it by accessing certain things the wrong way round.  I am re-loading everything from disc and a back-up drive.  In addition to my computer, my car decided to throw a tantrum and had to have new brakes and a roll bar fitted this week.  These things always happen when you least expect them, don't they?  Working perfectly now, thank goodness; I would be lost without my car as public transport is not very frequent were I live.

In addition to decorating gift bags for next week's flower show, I have also been working on a new style (new for me that is) of cards.  I watched a demo recently using 12" x 12" card that was folded and cut to end up with a card a quarter of the original size, and it had two two pockets on the front.  So easy and so effective.  Double-sided card is best, but I used single-side card and added a complimentary paper to the area that was plain.  I also saw a demo for using the outer edge of doilies and I have added this to one of the cards.  The floral card has a tag with a salutation on it, which can be placed in one of the pockets, but they could be used for various things: a bookmark, theatre tickets, money, endless possibilities.  These are still very much work in progress, but I am pleased with how they are turning out.



I am off to enjoy the sunshine as the forecast for the coming week is a little mixed (sounds familiar doesn't it?).  I have a busy week this week, so need to (try to) keep on top of everything.  Don't forget to check out the Handmade Monday gang for great posts and pics of this week's makes, plus very good tutorials are often posted.

Nearly forgot to add that the three-day event I have booked for this year is at the Secretts Garden Centre in Milford and takes place on 16, 17 and 18 November.  Very local to me so travel  and therefore time, will not be a problem.  I already feel I need to be making Christmas cards, bags and boxes as I know the next few months will rush by, so the next month or so could see me adding Christmas cards to my Handmade Monday makes spot.

I will be back on Wednesday with my mid-week post and don't forget to get in touch with me if you would like to be a Friday Guest Blogger.

Jill

23 comments:

  1. Oh nooooo, talking of Christmas in May..... :-)

    Loving the fine weather, the two foot tall weeds you predicted have been banished, the lawn looks fab, now just a bit more warmth for the veggies.

    I've been getting a bit crafty, well with photos anyway. I promised the family I would make an album of the birthday celebrations. I did it online with the option to order hard copy - it looks fab. Must put a link to it on my blog.

    Have a great week.
    Lesley x.

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  2. Lovely cards - I like that idea of a tag. I'm glad I'm not the only one who forgets to photograph things ;-)

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  3. I love the way your 'new' cards are looking - they look great and will no doubt sell well too :)

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  4. Oh my post has gone up in smoke! start again must have pushed the wrong button as got cut off in mid stream, lol. Love the tag cards a good idea. I also looked at Milford one but did nothing about it which is me all over atm just cannot get focused. Have a good week

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  5. I love the idea of a folded card with pockets, lots of scope for ideas. The weather has been gorgeous over the last couple of days, hooray!

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  6. Your cards sound great even without a photo! We havnt got the sun yet, so send some up here :0P

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  7. What a wonderful blog
    I am also welcoming the sunshine its been a long time coming this year lets hope its here to stay
    Good luck with your 3 day show I hope the weather stays fine for you xxxx

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  8. Lovely cards as always Jill. The guest post was really good this week - I do enjoy them. Have a good week Mich x

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  9. The cards sound lovely as are the ones you have shown us - the tag idea is great. Thanks again for letting me guest blog, I really enjoyed it. Have a lovely week. xxx

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  10. Everything sounds brilliant - hope your technical probs soon get sorted. Good luck with the show - plenty of time to build up a good stock!

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  11. It's your fault it's raining today then - singing about the sun and his hat!!!! Lovely post as usual and like the idea of the new cards. I wish to keep X...S under wraps for a little while to come though! Can we have a summer first please!

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  12. I know what you mean about thing breaking down, they all seem to go together... for me it is the washing machine, am debating about getting a little man in or or biting the bullet!

    I love the cards, it's also good to hear that you are still learning and sharing new techniques, there is nothing like the feeling when you finish a project and it looks just like it is supposed to! :)

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  13. Oh, lots to comment on! Your mentioning elderberry wine made me think of the wine my Aunt and Uncle used to make (altho I never got to taste it as I was a kid--but I used to be fascinated by the process). I think it might have been Loganberry, but I'm not sure, it was many years ago. Everyone said it was wonderful. Well, everyone who was old enough to imbibe!
    Second, the cards sound wonderful. And I'm sorry to hear about your car. I really hate car issues because it disrupts your entire life. I remember when we were first married and very VERY poor and a car problem was a true tragedy. Now it's inconvenient and still not a good thing, but at least we can absorb the cost into the budget.
    Lastly, I really love that new card. I am going to have to check that out a bit more closely. It seems quite ingenious!

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  14. Ooo what a great idea having a pocket on the cards, just the right place to put a little gift.

    Lets hope the sun stays around!

    LH
    x

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  15. Very pretty cards - love the idea of a sliding-in tag :)

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  16. Sounds like you have had a busy week, we had a great weekend and spent most of the time out on the motorcycle.
    Love the card, the pocket idea is great.

    OOooppps, forgetting to photographing things seems to be way of the crafter, it must be our butterfly outlook.

    Jan :)

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  17. I love the idea of the tag cards-they look fab!And yes,isn't it great to see the sun again,although short lived round here!

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  18. I love your cards. What a great idea to have pockets on them.

    It is great to have the sun back. I have to admit that I love dandelions - I love the yellow and then the beautiful seed heads.

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  19. Love your beautiful cards. Hope you enjoy the sunshine - it's a bit mixed up North too! Grey clouds today :-(. Hope you have a good week too!

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  20. The cards look really pretty! I especially like the floral one with the lace :)

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  21. Lucky you with wall to wall sunshime as we have had one extreme to the other here, sunshine and hailstones!
    I lobe the tag cards too, its a great idea!

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  22. Your cards are great - especially like the pocket folded ones, really different. Good luck with all the breakdowns!!!! Shall revisit on Friday, as I enjoy reading your guest bloggers.
    Jo x

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Thank you for your comment - it is always lovely to have feedback and I hope you enjoyed my post.