Christmas Hamper

My second Christmas blog post is now available on the Papermaze Blog. This one is a Christmas gift made using the delightful Blue Fern Studios Vintage Christmas & Vintage Christmas 2 collections. I wanted to create a special hamper to take along as contribution to our hosts on Christmas day. I found a crate style box at IKEA which I thought would be just the right size and set about painting and decorating it. Then I dressed up the contents of the hamper too.

Please see the blog for details of how the gifts were made and follow the links to the shop to see more information on the products I used.

Thanks for looking

Merry Christmas
Lynn x

Snow Globe Sizzix Die Set - Papermaze

My first Christmas project for Papermaze  is now available on the Scrap Paper Scissors Blog. Please view the blog for details on the supplies used to make the Christmas Cards.

I couldn't resist these dies and chose some delightful glittery card, Bazzill cardstock, embossing plates and other dies I made a selection of Christmas cards. I also used miri card and some patterned papers.

A couple more cards I made using the same cardstock and some Crafter's Companion dies.

Hope this has inspired you with your Christmas card making.

Back later in the month with a Christmas Eve idea.

Thanks for looking.

Lynn x

Touring Scotland with the EV - Days 25 - 27

  

Near Sawrey

 Days 25 - 27 (Wednesday 26th to Friday 28th October)


Here is the final entry recording our tour to Scotland 2016, in the Renault Zoe 100% Electric Vehicle. We have had a wonderful month and covered about 2000 miles, the weather has been amazing for the time of year, a truly beautiful autumn. 

On Wednesday we had a whole day in the Lake District. First stop for the morning was Ambleside and while we charged the car we visited a garden centre recommended to us by our hostess at the guest house. Hayes Garden World had an amazing display of Christmas decorations and trees. We eventually found the impressive plant area too!!

Ambleside - Hayes Garden Centre

Next stop was Hawkeshead, we had a walk around the village and found The National Trust Beatrix Potter Gallery, displaying may of her original drawings, paintings and stories. 2016 marks a special anniversary for the Lake District as it's 150 years since Beatrix Potter was born and so there was plenty going on to celebrate this event. 

Hawkeshead Village

From Hawkeshead we went on to Beatrix Potter's home - Hill Top Farm - It was fascinating walking around the garden and house. 

The Shop

Hill Top

We had time for a drink in The Tower Bank Arms and a chat with Mr McGregor!

Mr Cooper and Mr McGregor

Tower Bank Arms

From here we drove to Sawrey to catch the ferry across Lake Windermere back to Windermere where we were staying.

Windermere in the rain from the ferry

The rest of the trip was spent travelling back to Kent, staying overnight in a hotel in Coventry so we could meet up with Craig Tonge of the Renault Zoe Owners Club (RZOC), who has been very helpful in our learning curve with owning an EV. The club has a facebook page which has proved very useful in sharing hints and tips too.

A brilliant trip and we would love to do it again, revisiting some places and taking in others we couldn't include this time. We would also like to have more time in the Lake District.

Thanks for reading about our adventures.

Lynn x

Touring Scotland with the EV - Day 24

Days 24 (Tuesday 25th October)

We left Fort William with our heads in cloud and drove through Glencoe, still in the clouds for part of the morning.

By the time we reached Loch Lomond the sky had cleared and it was a beautiful, but cold sunny day.

A breif stop off at Cumnock for a car charge.

We arrived in Cumbria later in the afternoon, with the whole of Wednesday to explore the area of Windermere as we book two nights to stay here.

Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Touring Scotland with the EV - Day 23

Days 23 (Monday 24th October)

With two nights booked for Fort William set off bright and early to Fort William Station to catch the The Jacobite (the train used in the Harry Potter films for the Hogworts' Express). It was being prepared for the day's trip to Mallaig. We were able to take a few photos while it waited at the platform for the day's lucky travellers. We were lucky to catch this opportunity as the season finished the following weekend.

While in the area we could see Ben Nevis and wanted to explore further so drove to Glen Nevis and the Ben Nevis Visitor Centre, from where to took a walk around, but not up the mountain. 

From here we drove to Neptune's Staircase, series of 8 locks on the Caledonian Canal at Banavie, just north of Loch Linhe. It is the longest staircase lock in the UK and takes boats about 90 minutes to travel up the 64 feet to the top.

It's difficult to capture the scale of these locks in a photo.

Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Creative Planner

For my second project for the Papermaze blog using Simple Stories - The Reset Girl collection, I created this layout using the delightful Library Cards. They brought back memories of an early Saturday job I had working in the local library. I'm showing my age - it's along time since we needed cards like this to take books out of a library!!

I also loved the planner elements of this collection and thought I would use them to record my daughter's love of her planner, journal and other notebooks. As a writer she is always jotting things down in note books and over the years she has built up a beautiful collection.

Please follow the links on the Papermaze blog to the shop to find the materials I have used.

Thanks for looking.

Lynn x

Thoroughly Modern Mary Wallhanging

Over on the Papermaze Blog you will find details of the first of two posts showing what I have been busy making with the amazing new The Reset Girl papers from Simple Stories.

My mother (Mary) was a dedicated follower of fashion in the 1950's and as an accomplished dressmaker made all her own dresses. The papers reminded me of some early photos of her, so I picked just a few of the many snaps my father took to make this wall hanging using three embroidery hoops.

Pop over to the blog to find out how I used the embroidery hoops and other elements to make this wall hanging layout. You will find links to the shop in my post.

I will be back with another project focusing on the planning elements in these stunning papers.

Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

Touring Scotland with the EV - Day 21 & 22

Days 21 & 22 (Saturday 22nd & Sunday October)

Armadale waiting for the Ferry (see below)

Over the weekend we made our way back to mainland Scotland via Skye. A drive to Tarbert and once the car was parked up in line ready for the ferry we had plenty of time for coffee at The Isle of Harris Distillers coffee shop. Then we popped into the Tarbert 'Harris Tweed' Shop where you can buy fabric by the metre. It was hard to choose one from the huge collection but I made my choice and was given some official 'Harris Tweed' woven labels to sew into what ever I make with the fabric.
I will have to add a photo of this once I unload the car as it's packed away deep in the boot of the car!

The ferry took us back to Uig on Skye and we drove from here to Portree for a car charge, then onto Broadford for the night at Dunollie Hotel.

This was the view from the hotel over breakfast on Sunday morning.

After breakfast we set off to Armadale for the Ferry, again we were able to put the car in line and go off and have a look around. 
Grumpy George the photogropher proved to be anything but grumpy - such a friendly, jolly character, he kept us entertained for a while telling us more ablou life on Skye and his business and pet parrot 'Pepi'.

George in the shop

Pepi

Pepi is not caged but sits on her perch and call out to customers. When it's time for George to go home Pepi jumps onto his finger and then they go out to the car and travel home!

The short ferry trip took us to Mallaig on the mainland. 
We charged the car here and had time to do a little window shopping.

The ferry at Mallaig

Our destination for the day was our B & B in Fort William, and it was a beautiful drive. We stopped at a village called Arisag where Alan's mother had been a lady's companion back in the early 1930's.

Arisag

Arisag

 We arrived in the Fort William area mid afternoon, this is the garden of Campfield B & B on the bank of Loch Linnhe.

In the garden Snow White leads her team to victory!

We had two nights here as we wanted to explore the area rather than leave again early the next morning.

Thanks for looking

Lynn x