Playing Hooky

Callum and I did take half a day off on Tuesday and he decided he wanted to visit Tracy, my friend, his Godmother and the very lady who is getting married soon. On an earlier post I asked for ideas for her Wedding Hymns & Reading and whilst they are still making the Hymn choices the reading is to be Apache Wedding Prayer.

Tracy has just moved and is in the process of knocking down walls as well as organising her wedding, when we arrived she had just posted my wedding invitation which arrived yesterday and she has spent a lot of time on it.

It was sealed with wax!

She has then made each invitation

And inside included along with the invite details, all the RSVP info including e-mail, snail mail & phone numbers, a timeline of the day's events and just to top it all off in her very effective and organised way a full set of directions, where to stays(including prices) and best places to park.

If the day goes according to plan it is going to be fab!

On the way home we went to Barton Grange Garden Centre and we had an afternoon tea. As a child this was a favourite treat for both myself and my younger brother John.

I can remember the cakes, scones, cream and jam all being brought out on a cake stand and plates of sandwiches, bread and butter and crumpets and of course as much tea as we wanted.

As soon as I saw it on the menu I thought that was going to be my treat, I then found out to my parenting horror that Callum has not only not EVER had an afternoon tea but didn't even KNOW what one was!

Oh Shame on me I am not a good mother.

I of course insisted on him also having one. Out came 2 tiered cake stands with our goodies on and his eyes almost popped out of his head. We had a lovely time, we laughed quite a bit and indeed drew admiring glances from other diners(Callum said they were staring because we were laughing so loud) I choose to believe they were envious of the giggles.

Even with a dairy allergy we had a delicious afternoon tea and I have righted a wrong. Never let it be said my boy does not know what an afternoon tea is.

He now understands why I was so excited about the holiday we are due to go on soon. We are going on a cruise and they serve afternoon tea each day. We enjoy cruising and have been on a few but this is the first one that does a proper afternoon tea.

Before heading home we used the facilities and they were very impressive. If you live close to Barton Grange and haven't been pop in, the wash basins were lovely and the hand-dryers were fab. Callum was also impressed with the gents facilities as they had the most stunning urinals(I kid you not) I did not take my camera, but luckily he has one on his phone so went back in and took a photo, when I work it out I will get the pictures from his phone on to the PC and on the blog.

We had a lovely afternoon and something we will repeat again. All the things we could have done and he wanted to see his Godmother how cute is that?

Yesterday I managed some card making.

I made this card for my RSVP for Tracy and Mark

And its true we really can't wait I am soooooo looking forward to seeing her get married as well as catching up with some very special people that I haven't seen for far too long.

The next cards are for my nieces who all have birthdays coming up 2 on the same day!

Chloe's is first, followed by Charlotte and Coral

Let's hope the weather cheers up, have a lovely weekend Keely x

Home at Last

Hooray I am home for 2 whole weeks, I will still have to travel but I will be able to sleep in my very own non hotel bed every night for 14 nights.

How cool is that. Only one downside I have to get used to sharing again!

I was reading TillyBoo's blog and she was commenting on how Boo seems to have grown before her eyes so to speak and then I found this video about some of the naughty things our Kids can do!

Pretty Shabby has received her cards now so I can post some photos.

She is expecting a niece or nephew soon and asked for a card to welcome the new arrival so here's what I sent

Over the last week I have been in a hotel so have been knitting!

This is something I haven't done in an awful long time as I am not very good or well practiced at it.

I thought I would make some knitted brooches/corsages will decide when they are finished what to call them.

At the moment I just have strips of knitting which look like they couldn't be anything, so tomorrow I am off to the car boot to find some vintage buttons to add to the centre then I can make them up and show you.

Did I tell you I am home for 2 weeks I am so pleased.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend

Keely

Giveaway Cards complete

I have had a hard week, I feel sure I am not alone.

I work as a trainer and last week I delivered a new workshop, had an observation and had my monthly development meeting(at the end of the working day) so I feel shattered.

I normally get up about 6.30-7.00 every morning and may have a lie in on a Saturday until 8.00-8.30 but this morning I slept until 10.30!

I have since spent a very happy morning to early afternoon in my craft room and made my giveaway for Pretty Shabby.

I have had a lovely time and really hope that Pretty Shabby is happy with her package.

I have included some out takes to wet the taste buds so to speak.

So a whole half a weekend at home before setting off for work on Sunday(another new workshop) and another week away from home :-(

If anyone is going to be in around or near Preston tomorrow pop along to the Farmer's and Craft market which will be held in the outdoor(but covered) market place.

If you do go out keep your eyes peeled for Kath aka Juicy Fig she will be there selling some of her wonderful creations and if she has run out and you just want to chat I am sure she will be more than happy to say hello.

Have a great day Kath and let us know how you get on.

To all good bloggers everywhere have a wonderful weekend - I suppose I can extended that to all the bad bloggers as well.

This reminded me of how I felt at 7pm yesterday!

Keely x

The Results are in and the Winner is...........

So the deadline has gone and I prepared for my 1st ever giveaway.

Being the sort of person who is incredibly organised I collated the names and printed up labels to write them on.

I then retrieved the camcorder to record it on video and the battery was flat! So I have fallen back to old faithful and taken photos.

Firstly to show it's a fair draw all of the names prior to folding and putting in the hat.

Next they all went in the bowl must point out this is a huge washstand bowl(wasn't sure how many people would enter so thought I'd better be safe than sorry!

Then pick the one that "felt right"

And the winner is prettyshabby

Well done! All you have to do now is decide which of the cards below you would like along with deciding on your custom card.

Drop me a line and let me know.

I am away this week so may not be able to complete your custom card before I go so it could be next weekend before I get to it.

Thanks to the other ladies that joined in I do appreciate your comments and thank you for reading my ramblings.

Keely x

Giveaway(again!) and Craft Night

As you may know I am having a giveaway and it ends tomorrow at 18:00.

The winner will receive any card from here as well as a custom card.

To enter all you need to do is leave a comment with what hymn or non religious reading I should promote to my friend for her wedding(Don't ask. I offered to help!).

So far for the readings we have Apache Wedding Prayer, Shakespeare Sonnet 116 and The Prophet.

For the hymns we have Bread of Heaven, All things Bright and Beautiful, Bring me Joy and the Lord's my Shepherd.

Now all comments count even if it to second an exsisting suggestion but new ones would be great!

Thanks to the following for the above suggestions

JuicyFig
twiggypeasticks
JackBlackRoady
Suse

Cowboys & Custard

Now to the Craft Club.

The group I belong to is called Create and Craft and we meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month(not in July though) in a village called Chatburn.

We generally don't do an organised event we turn up and make/do what we won't I have been known to do nothing but talk!

This week however I did partake in a parchment craft workshop. I have always loved parchment work but avoided it as I am heavy handed and worry about spending hours creating something and then tearing the parchment.

When I arrived at the class these were the samples which helped me make my mind up and have a go.

The above were all made by our club organiser Sue who I think is very talented.

The following were made by Sarah who whilst still learning has been doing it for a little while now and the one she is holding was made in one evening approx 2 hours! WOW!

The one below is mine no where near the quality or difficulty of the ones above but all the same I am pleased with it.

Anyway all is well in our world, Craig has taken Callum on a driving lesson and should be home soon. Callum has his test next week so please send happy thought and crossed fingers etc through. I am away all next week with work and whilst I may be able to log onto a PC I am not sure so hopefully I will not be completely blogless.

I will be back tomorrow anyhoo as I will need to announce the winner of the giveaway. I may try and video the draw and post that but don't know if it will work.

Till tomorrow

Keely x

Show & Tell and a Giveaway

As promised I am going to show and tell!

I have a few cards that are sad and lonely in the card box waiting for an appropriate time and person to be given too.

Firstly 2 cards that will be used tomorrow "who can they be for?" I hear you ask well the one on the left is for my dad the other for hubby.

So then Callum had to make his cards and here are the results

With these completed I could open the card box and see what's lurking.

First some baby cards which I love really fresh and pretty IMO just waiting for a baby now(not my own you understand Oh no that's all over with now!!)

The one on the bottom left has the little heart the wrong way round I noticed after taking the photo I am sure it is fixable.

So just a few more.

I hope you like the cards as I am thinking of doing a giveaway. As you know this is all new to me but I am throwing caution to the wind, I am the sort of girl you mums warn your boys about!

Let me explain my reason for the giveaway as you are all aware there is always a catch.

My friend is getting married in September and I offered to help(why I don't know it just sort of slipped out) as it turns out "everything's sorted" she said. Way to go I come out with nothing to do but still get brownie points for the offer.

Anyhow she calls back(did I hear someone laugh????) "could you look at finding a reading and 3 hymns" just like that. Also she would like a none religious reading(?) and hymns that do not require a full choir to make them sound great the sort of thing a normal/semi normal person could sing.

I am sure she feels this is a minor request but I could get this sooooo wrong, which is where the giveaway comes in. I would like your help with readings and hymns that you know of that might fit the bill. Everyone's name will go in the proverbial and the winner will receive 1 of the above cards of your choice and also drum roll.....................................one specifically made to your specifications(within reason I don't have some things. My husband does not believe me no matter how hard I cry!)

I was supposed to come back to her with ideas last weekend so with this timescale in mind feel another week won't harm anyone.

So any ideas you have let me know by 18:00(UK time) next Saturday 21/06 and I will then draw the name out for the giveaway. I will of course let you know what she chooses once I have discussed this with her.

Please, please let other people know if you can I am sure there is a magic blog way of announcing a giveaway but I don't know what it is so if you read this and mention it or better still if you have the power provide a link(still haven't worked it out!) that would be fab.

If there is any blogging etiquette I need to be aware of please could you let me know.

Keely x