Berry Nice!

I hate to say it but the weather has been dry and warm here for a few days now - yay! In fact, the ground outside my house was looking a little dusty so I spent part of this morning sweeping it! Perhaps I have too much time on my hands! Time that would be better spent crafting! :)

Another good thing is that the shops are becoming full of lovely summer produce so I couldn't resist buying a selection of berries, they look so yummy! 

I have got vanilla ice cream to go with them. Do you prefer cream or ice cream?

Craft-wise I have been more productive than I expected to be this week; so much so that I have actually run out of double-sided tape! Oops! Luckily it didn't happen while I was having a production-line session making this lot...

...into these:

and I used every last millimetre to make these little notecards:

They have been made using a fab digital stamp from this shop - check out her other tree stamps!

I hope the weather is being good where you are, have a great weekend!

Collections

One of my most lovely customers, Mia, often sends me crafty things she thinks I'd like, such as papers, and when I recently asked her about the crafts she does, she told me she knits mitts. Next thing I know,a parcel had plopped through my door and inside were these gorgeous items:

They're soft and intricate and the most stunning colour. I was very touched at her kindness. Unfortunately Mia doesn't have a web page or a blog I can share with you. She really should because her work is lovely!

It took me a little while to get back into the swing of things after my whirlwind holiday, but I've had a couple of good crafty days with new products  making their way into my shops. I have been working with some stunning papers lately and have been so determined not to waste any that I've found myself making "collections" of items that all share the same papers! 

This is my first "collection"! And I'm now working on another which I'll share soon!

In daily life I've been getting back into the routine of the day job and evenings of crafting. Himself and I went to see the film Mud which was really good and then we had pizza!

And today I've been doing one of my favourite things, coffee with a friend and she'd made lovely cheese scones too - yum!

I took the Super Dad mug and let her use the Yummy Mummy one - I'm not sure which category I fit into least!!

Love the plate, don't you? She's as cat-mad as me!!

Adventures in Krakow

Whew, I'm just trying to get back into the swing of things after a whirlwind weekend trip to Krakow, Poland, and what a fab trip it was! We managed to fit loads into our 72 hours there, but I have to admit, now I'm back, I'm rather drained and could do with a holiday! :)

I did, of course, take lots of pics of our trip, and here's a selection:

Me, standing in front of the Wawel Cathedral and Castle complex, the most historic part of Krakow.

The huge courtyard within Wawel Castle.

Local speciality - Pierogi Dumplings

Rynek Glowny - the main market square and biggest in Europe - this is just one side of it!

Not our hotel, but I liked the old-fashioned sign!

Little notes left by visitors to a yummy cupcake cafe!

In the depths of Wielickza Salt Mine - an amazing subterranean labyrinth of tunnels and chambers, some containing statues and briney pools like this.

and others opening into huge cathedral-sized halls like this one, which was actually a cathedral!

Walking about the old town, I spied this colourful array of earrings and necklaces.

and this is at the other side of the big market square - the Town Hall tower and the Cloth Hall. Plus, lots of tourists!

We also visited Oskar Schindler's Factory and Auschwitz, but that's all a bit sombre for this blog. Very, very moving and interesting though, and the weather by then had turned suitable wet and chilly. Luckily we'd had sunshine and 25 degrees on our first day!

We did a LOT of walking, a lot of eating and a lot of hopping on and off trams, with very little sleep in between. Hence my slow return to normality! But I'm gradually getting back to Crafty Mushroomness so hopefully there will be some new items to show you next time!