Happy Mother's Day

Today has been Mother's Day here in the UK. We popped round to see my Mum this morning to give her a homemade card.

Her present was the latest book from Queen Mary Berry. It's always good buying Mum cookery books as you know you'll get to taste the results at some point :)

My own presents from Chickpea were these colourful flowers and a craft magazine - she knows me well.

This afternoon we decided to go for a walk as the weather was so lovely and warm. The clocks springing forward last night seems to have brought with them a real taste of spring and we saw bees, butterflies and this sweet little ladybird.

The sides of the path were carpeted in wild garlic. As I have a recipe in mind, I'm hoping it doesn't go over too quickly and before I have a chance to harvest some.

There was lots of celandine dotted around too.

And some very vocal robins.

When we arrived back, I sat and read in the sunshine in the garden and then worked on some quilting. A lovely way to spend Mother's Day.

However, I've saved my most exciting news until last. I have some leave coming up just after Easter and had been mulling over what to do. This morning I finally made up my mind and booked a holiday. In just over a month, we'll be standing under Juliet's balcony in fair Verona! Cue jumping up and down in excitement!!!

I'm off to practice my Italian but will be back tomorrow with the Scavenger Hunt. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Ciao!

And we shall have snow

Well, who would have thought we'd wake up to a blanket of snow at the end of March? The weather reports in the newspapers have been saying it's more likely to happen this time of year than at Christmas because the air is more moist. Maybe they're right but I can't remember the last time it happened, and I'll be quite happy if it never happens again!

Still, I did enjoy taking these photos of my garden ornaments from the relative warmth of my patio doors: open the door, take a photo, shut the door.

Given the snow and the bitter wind, we rarely ventured out this weekend except for a quick trip to the supermarket for food and petrol. Instead it was another weekend of crafting.

I finally got around to making Easter cards for a couple of friends. The sheep toppers are from Hobbycraft and were a very reasonable £1 for two. They're quite chunky so the cards will have to be posted in padded envelopes to protect them.

And all of the papers were 'free' with various magazines, except for the green 'Easter' which I cut out of an Aldi leaflet! I think this one is my favourite.

I also made this card for my friend's football-mad little boy who turns 7 in April. It only seems like yesterday that I was holding him when he was a few days old!

The card had to undergo a bit of a repair job this morning. I'd bought some flat rubber football toppers but, when I came downstairs, they'd all fallen off - looks like sticky dots weren't strong enough to hold them. Luckily, I still had some of the paper so cut out the footballs instead.

I also did a little baking using this spice. Can you guess what it is? It's the key ingredient in a traditional Lancashire treat and all will be revealed in my next post.

This afternoon, Chickpea finished her decopatch letter. I've been surprised and thrilled how much she's enjoyed doing it - maybe we've found 'her' craft at last? I'm convinced everyone has a craft in them and it's just a matter of elimination to find the right one. Or ones in my case.

I also think she prefers crafting with someone else rather than on her own. So, while she was decopatching, I was sat next to her working on this applique picture. I'm soooo excited about this and can't wait to show you the finished result! Hopefully, I'll get it finished over the Easter weekend which for me starts on Thursday - 5 whole days off work. Yippee!

Mother's Day

I hope you've all been enjoying Mother's Day, whether you're a Mum or not. This is what my lovely Chickpea gave me this morning :-) Such a pretty card and I love orchids.

Sometimes we go out for Mother's Day but, more often than not, it's a quiet one and that's how I'd planned it today as I'd been out at a quilt event yesterday (more on that next time).

After I'd opened my card and present we headed round to see Mum. I decided to make Mum's card again this year and enjoyed creating these little paper cupcakes on an 'Emma Bridgewater' polka dot cake stand. I did debate whether it was a good subject for her as she's diabetic and doesn't eat much cake. However, she's always baking, so cupcakes it was. Of course, Dad, always the joker, made the comment 'and this is what you could have had' when he saw it! I think Mum liked it though, and she definitely liked the heart tealight stand and tulips.

Last year I made this card. The design was from Papercraft Inspirations magazine and you can download the template and motifs here - there are different ones for people who like baking, DIY, gardening etc. As soon as I saw the design, I just had to make it. The pleated frill was a bit fiddly and awkward to stick down but, otherwise, it was an easy make and I had great fun choosing the papers and trimmings.

There was more card making this afternoon, this time for the daughter of my American friend who turns 16 in  a couple of weeks. The Russian dolls were free with Craftseller last year and the paper and wording came free with other magazines. I really enjoyed making this one and it came together quite quickly, unlike the Easter ones which I'm still deliberating over.

After the card making, Chickpea and I enjoyed a crafternoon doing some decopatch. She's never shown much interest in crafting but I keep trying! As she'd admired the decopatch I did last year, and spying an opportunity, I bought her a papier mache letter for her birthday and we primed it last weekend. I worked on something for my German friend whose birthday is in a couple of weeks - so many March birthdays - it was my best friend's and my brother's this week too! I'll reveal all after the event.

And that's been our day. Tempted by the bright sunshine, we did set out for a short stroll but the wind was so bitingly cold that we headed straight back home! Enjoy what remains of the weekend. x