Crowthorne Craft & Design Show

Craft In Focus is staging another contemporary Craft and Design Show at Wellington College, Crowthorne from 26^th – 28^th October.  All the exhibitors have designed and made the work they’ll be displaying, and the event will feature around 100 professional designer/makers selling jewellery, glass, fashion, ceramics, textiles, artwork, interior accessories and furniture.

Opening times are:  12 noon – 6 pm on Friday, 10 am – 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday.  Admission is £4.50 for adults, £3.50 for over 65s, and accompanied children under 14 are free.

For further information contact Craft in Focus on 01622 747 325 or visit the web site at www.craftinfocus.com.

Embossibilities additions

Sharon Duncan's just added a brand new CD to her Embossibilities range in the form of the Paisly Print Collection. It's been 18 months since the last CD in this range and to date the Embossibilities CDs have proved to be Sharon's most successful.

The effect on these printable papers is actually pretty cool as they're shadowed in a way that makes the pattern appear 3D, almost like they've been embossed.

Check out the full range of Embossibilities CDs on Sharon's website here.

Rainy day bank holiday

This isn't really the sight you want when you open your curtains on a bank holiday!

Thankfully most of what I had planned today happened indoors, so just a fast-paced walk to the car and back on a couple of occasions.

Started the day by finishing off my projects for upcoming issues of Creative Cardmaking and Simply Cards & Papercraft, then me and Emma went to visit Granny for a few hours before walking her down to the dining room in the home. A few extra and finishing touches to the projects when I got home followed by boiled eggs and soldiers for lunch.

Then I swiftly discovered that I actually had nothing else to do! With selling the house at the moment everywhere is spotless, so I had to resort to emptying cupboards and wardrobes and having a bit of a mini clear-out. I'd previously had a big clear out just prior to putting the house on the market.

I've pretty much now exhausted my options, so off for a walk up to mum and dad's for a cuppa now the rain has stopped!

xx

Cupcake success!

My sister's certainly got all the talent where icing is concerned! Look at these little beauties!

Vanilla cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery's Cupcakes & Muffins book. I'll definitely be leaving the icing up to Emma, but I am the master sprinkler!

After a morning of baking, I've downed 3 cupcakes, licked a mixing bowl my fingers and excess icing many, many times! 5 more of these left in my fridge and I can't see them staying for long - there's a reason I don't buy these things!

xx

A glimpse of sunshine

Like me, this little fellow was determined to get out in the garden yesterday morning before the heaven's opened!

Sad that the sun was short-lived and we have torrential rain and thunderstorms for the rest of the day! Thankfully I'd managed to get to the vets and back and even have a nosey round the Gawsworth Hall Craft & Gift fair with mum before the rain started, so was back home safe and dry before the downpour.

Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for my sister and Sam who I saw running past with the dogs at one point! They'd obviously decided to chance it!

I'm off round to Emma's now to try the cupcake baking so wish me luck! Pics to follow!

xx

Delightful digi kits!

Check out these new digi kits from Sarah Hurley, which have just been released today!

The Witching Hour and Santa's Workshop collections give you a selection of printable papers, alphas, overlays and embellishments for your Halloween and festive projects, so be sure to check them out! Both are available for less than a tenner in CD-ROM form, but you can also choose to buy them as a download for a mere £3.22!

Sarah sells an extensive range of digital paper kits, embellishments and printable page accents, so take a look here to see everything on offer.

Looking forward to the long weekend!

Hi all,

After a very busy period here at work the past few months, we're all very much looking forward to the last of our Bank Holiday weekends! Doesn't that extra day make all the difference? No Monday blues for us next week! I'm also in the process of trying to get ahead in preparation for my first overseas sun & sand holiday in 18 years (!) so am even more so looking forward to my chance to get my feet up (although to be fair, with all the commissions I've got for the card mags and other plans on the cards it's not very likely anyway......but I can dream!).

Here's hoping that everyone's got some great plans lined up and that the weather is at least a little kind to us, even though the forecast is once again looking positively gloomy! Perhaps best to restrict our plans to being mostly indoors!

I'll be busy from Friday evening onwards. I need to get the hoovering and housework done when I get home from the office ready for some viewers coming for a nosey late Saturday morning. I'd save this manual treat for first thing Saturday but I need to get Jade to the vets for, hopefully, her last blood test to make sure her thyroid levels are correct now she's been on the tablets for her hyper-thyroidism for a few months. Fingers-crossed she gets the all clear and we can just plough on with her medication for another 6 months. Happy birthday Jade, who is 15 this weekend!

First thing Sunday morning I'm off round to my sister Emma's place to select a cupcake recipe for the wedding. My bright idea that we can save a bit by making them ourselves, but we'll see how successful the practice run is this weekend! We'll be choosing the recipe (a vanilla variety I think), buying the bits & pieces and then making them and trying our hand at icing! Now, it's been a VERY long time since I baked anything other than an apple pie, but I'm hoping that my sister's baking prowess will save the day! I'll try and sort some piccies so you can see how we got on!

There's also a craft & gift fair on at the local Gawsworth Hall this weekend, so I've promised mum a trip out to have a browse. Love going to these to see everything for sale and it's been a tradition ever since I was little that I have to buy a bag of vanilla fudge at these things, so I'm sure I'll be inclined to oblige again this time round!

Whatever your plans, I hope you all have great weekends and that the weather at least stays clement for them!

xx

Issue 66 incoming!

If you're not already enjoying your subscription copy of Scrapbook Magazine issue 66 then be sure to get your hands on it when it hits the shelves tomorrow!

We've got some real treats for you as our design team are inspired by collage techniques, get to grips with punches, 8x8" page sizes and creating borders by hand for unique and coordinated page accents.

This issue also comes free with ta stunning and bold Floral Sonata scrapbooking kit from Sarah Paris, a digital papercraft specialists, so be sure to check out the designs and inspiration in the mag.

You'll also find a new selection of sketches, scraplifts and challenges in the activity pack to keep you scrapping.

Enjoy!

xx

Bazzill bounty!

Bazzill have just announed that they'll be showing sneak peeks of releases from the CHA summer show in Chocago as well as giving away goodies whilst the show runs! This starts on the 17th July at 8am local time and there'll be a new product shouted about every hour. You'll also be able to enter a competition for your chance to win the new releases before they're available to buy through stockists! Go to www.bazzillbasics.com or keep your eyes on the Facebook and Twitter pages for details!

Online debut

American Crafts have just announced that us crafters can now get our hands on the American Crafts, Pebbles Inc, Studio Calico and Crate Paper products thanks to a new online shop venture. These great brands are always a popular choice and you can now order direct from the latest releases and more at the online shop facility from over 3,000 products!