The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap

postcardswap_200_red

This is the sixth swap but the first time I have joined in. (Thank you Julie Kirk)

The theme this time is Celebration

I thought you might like to see the postcards I have been stitching. One of them will be posted to my swap partner tomorrow.

Celebrating the birth of my great niece Daisy, born this month
postcard cup cake

Celebrating the flowers in my garden
postcard flowers

Celebrating life; some Lotta (Ben’s girlfriend) days, Bens promotion at work, some beautiful warm weather, seeing the first pictures of Daisy, being happy, being well
postcard firework

I found some lovely A5 envelopes in Staples
Envelope one

and made one with one of my Gelli prints

envelope 2

I’m looking forward to seeing what my swap partner in New York is celebrating.

Christmas Tree Decoration Swap

A couple of years ago I was reading some posts (probably on Sian’s Story Telling Sunday) about how we decorate our Christmas trees. Some like all one colour and some anything goes but the thing that I noticed was that everyone has some really special things hanging on their tree, some from children, friends, a special occasion or a holiday.

I thought it would be lovely to have a special decoration from ‘my blogfriend……’

With that in mind I have finally plucked up the courage to ask if anyone would like to join in.

My initial thought was to make something; but of course you don’t have to do that, no decoration police around here thank you. I am thinking small, light and inexpensive to post.

If you would like to join in with the swap please e-mail me (even if you said yes in the comments on my tea post) your preferred e-mail address and your postal address.
Let me know if you don’t want to post overseas, I will try to match you with someone in the same country.
I’ll keep a list of addresses, which I won’t pass on to anyone…promise

I’ll keep adding names to my list up until the closing date of Friday 1st November. We will each send to the next name after our own on the list. You will send to one person and receive from another.
I’ll let everyone know who to send to and who to look out for.

So that everyone receives his or her swap in time for Christmas please have your item in the post by Friday 16th November 2013. That gives us six weeks to think and make and six weeks to travel around the Christmas postal system wherever you are and wherever the package is going.

If you decide to make something and you absolutely don’t have to! I found a few ideas here, here and here Thanks to the ever helpful Google.

What do you think? Could we do this? Are you in?

Any questions? Please ask! Remember, sign up by the end of October and post by the middle of November.

Christmas tree decs

Thank you Sian

My Month in Numbers




I am linking with Julie at Notes on Paper for her wonderful meme documenting a few things that kept me going through the month. So, what on earth happened to September? it is my favourite month, we have had some beautiful days but here we are in October.
Because of the way I label my project 365 photos I checked that I had the correct day number for today only to notice that it is only 91 days until the end of the year! now that really did depress me…

MiN September

Julies Communal Count

Communal count Sept 13

This is such a fun thing to do…Thank you Julie.

Photo Heart Connection

Kat Sloma hosts a wonderful practice each month called Photo Heart Connection.

Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.

September 2013

This time last year we were at my nieces fabulous wedding.
She had done so many beautiful little touches to make the wedding day sparkle. Not least of which were the flowers.
She had only White Mop Head Hydrangeas, either planted or cut and all in black containers. They were absolutely stunning. And all the crazy old aunts (yes me) were given a plant in a black square box to take home.
The wedding was the day before our wedding anniversary.
A year later we were away in a very beautiful village that has a castle on top of the hill. The woodlands surrounding the castle are heavily planted with Hydrangeas in every shape and colour; they were stunning in such a natural environment.
When I saw this white one, I took the picture with my phone and sent it to my niece with love and happy memories of a wonderful day.
I smiled when I saw (on my computer) the bug on the petal. My niece’s baby is due any day now.

white hydrangea

I forgot to post my PHC for August, I hope you won’t mind if I post it today?

August 2013

Brizzle Gromit

Yes it’s Gromit. That surprised you didn’t it?

This summer there has been the most wonderful art exhibition in Bristol called Gromit Unleashed.

Led by Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal and Aardman Animations, Gromit Unleashed is a public art exhibition in which giant sculptures of Gromit, decorated by invited artists, have been unleashed on the streets of Bristol and the surrounding area.

At the end of the art trail, the sculptures will be auctioned to raise funds for Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity.

There are 80 of these five foot high, beautifully painted Gromits all around the city of Bristol.
One Sunday we decided to go to Clifton so that I could photograph the bridge and we came across Brizzel Gromit. (Brizzel is what Bristolians call their city)

Now I am not usually one to go wandering around an art trail like this but the people gathered around this Gromit were just so friendly, everyone was talking to everyone else, (not very British at all!) taking photos and comparing notes about how many they had seen and where they were. Some people like us were just out for the day. Some people had been around the city on a hop on, hop off bus to find them. One lady had photographed forty of them! and one family had travelled across the country to see them.
There were five in Clifton, inspired, we walked around the town with our own dog and found them.

My hobby has changed me, I am much more confident than I ever was. With my camera I can talk to people in the street, I ask people if I can take their photo and I feel inspired to go on an art trail. I won’t be able to see any more of this one until the whole exhibition comes together in one place later in September.
So my Photo Heart Connection: Brizzel Gromit tells me how much I have grown in confidence and how much fun there is taking in a trail like this. Get out there, make pictures, have fun.

I thought you might like to see my little collection of Gromits.

Gromit