And...Relax!

Today I took myself off on a brisk walk around Linlithgow Loch as part of my pre-holiday excercise plan! I did allow myself a wee treat at the end though!

I'll be closing my shops tonight for a little break because now I'm planning to..

:) :) :)

Can't Resist...

I wasn't planning on blogging today but it's soooo lovely outside I couldn't resist sharing a pic of my alfresco luncheon!

The first chance I've had to sit on my decking this year and hopefully not the last!!

I've just had my afternoon coffee out there too.  But now I'm back inside and working; I really shouldn't be slacking, even on a lovely day like this!

The nice dry weather also meant I was able to give my sparkly new shoes an airing:

So glad to see the back of my winter boots - they'd sprung a leak!

Finally I'd like to show another commissioned card - it's not often I make cards these days that don't feature my own designs.  But I love Penny Black images so when I found this cute one pre-stamped in my stash I couldn't resist using it:

I've added my own doodled details though; finishes it off nicely!

Hope you're all getting a chance to soak up this lovely weather and long may it continue!

Winding Down...

At last the sun has appeared - yay!  So nice to feel warm and to top up the vitamin D levels!! Himself and I took a pleasant walk along the canal at Ratho to the Climbing Centre on Sunday - but the only climbing we did was the steps down to the cafe!

I'm really starting to wind down for my hols now, which means my little shops will be closed for a while.  But I'm looking forward to a break and will hopefully come back refreshed and raring to go craft-wise!

It's probably a bit naughty of me but I can't resist showing a card I've made for an order, which features my sewing and baking embellishments:

The background panel was made using various paper scraps - well, I had to take drastic measures as my scrapbox had reached epic proportions of spilling-over-ness!

The embellishments will hopefully lend themselves to becoming stickers in the near future!

Have a great week!

WHIBUTW!!

I was hoping to join in with Meet Me on Monday this week, but I've left it a bit late, so now I'm going to have to do a What Have I Been Up To Wednesday!

So I've been:

Eating - yummy pasta in a red pesto sauce with Quorn sausages mixed through on a bed of rocket!

Helping - my friend to decorate an arch with paper flowers for her daughter's upcoming gala day appearance!

Walking - in Roslin Glen Country Park The weather was showery but we were well-prepared with anoraks and brolly, and, squelchy mud aside, there was something very cleansing and refreshing about walking in the dampness! We also had a good poke around the ruins of Roslin Castle and felt a slight touch of vertigo on the walkway which had a very steep drop either side! 

We walked up to Rosslyn Chapel too, but it wasn't very photogenic, being as it was covered in scaffolding! We didn't even go in for a coffee as we'd brought our own in a flask to have in the car!

An interesting rocky "orifice" spotted on our walk along by the river!

Making - a commissioned wedding card featuring my "surprised" bears!

Feeling - chilly - roll on holidays!!!!

A Leopard Never Changes It's Spots...

Will this infernal rain ever stop I wonder??? I've been making some summery embellishments today in an attempt to feel warm but it hasn't worked.  Maybe I should use all my paper to build a big bonfire instead - maybe then I'd feel warm!!

I'm hoping to see some sunshine soon, however, with the imminent arrival of a wee holiday.  This week I've been doing some shopping in preparation and I've noticed that I've developed a liking for animal prints!

Am I turning into Bet Lynch, I wonder??? Or Kat Slater??

Some new items going into my shop this week include:

A Little Owls anniversary card:

and these Little Dog matchbook notepads:

My summery embellishments should be ready soon.  I'm considering making them into stickers!

Apologies for the dark photo - I'm experimenting with a new phone app called picplz to upload photos and I haven't quite got the hang of it yet!

On the Rack!

I was quite pleased with the Craft Fair on Saturday; although it was quiet at first there were a few flurries of folk during the day and I had several sales, yay!  I'm wondering if this was due, in part, to the fact that I used my newly-acquired card display rack, which made it easier for people to view my designs:

My Dad shared the rack with me; as you can see his fab photographic print cards were also available!

There were still things we could have done to improve sales further, I'm sure, but it is all part of the learning process! The most important thing was the friendly atmosphere and the niceness of mixing with other crafty folk!

Now I've reopened my Folksy shop, rejigged it a bit to replace items I sold at the fair, and now it's time to MAKE MORE THINGS!

Starting off with this altered notepad which began life with a plain plastic cover and was purchased at a shop called Tiger!

I just need to think of some way to decorate the rather plain pen now!!

Cat Art and a Collection of Cards!

Today I've been sorting out stock for the Midlothian Crafter's Fair this weekend; it's the first time I've done a fair for a while and I'm quite excited; there's always that vain hope that one might get some sales!! My dad will be there with some of his photographic prints and cards too, so fingers crossed attendance is good, and people will part with their hard-earned dosh!

I recently made a purchase of my own, from this shop on Folksy; I couldn't resist something a bit of cat-themed ACEO art!

I love their expressions!

I can finally show a couple of cards made recently for orders:

I am very pleased with how they turned out, so the designs are/will be available in my shop!

Hope you're all having a great week!