Paint Purley Purple - It Takes Much Longer to Put Up Than Take Down

Evening,

Well that sure was some rain that we had last night and this morning. We have our very own lake at the bottom of the garden.

For most of the last eight years I have been helping my friend Davina with the task of 'Painting Purley Purple'. 

It is a Tree Bombing/Guerilla Knitting campaign that runs for the month of October to help raise awareness of the Cancer Center in Purley.

It is a huge task, which has grown over the years from wrapping 5 trees with Purple knitting, to this years phenomenal 56 trees and 14 benches!!!

At the heart of the whole project, and the driving force behind it all is Davina, who organizes and coordinates the whole thing, and even sews the knitting to the trees along with the few other volunteers.

Each of the tree covers starts life as a pile of knitted panels.

Davina's conservatory floor spends most of July and August covered in purple knitting as she tries hard to coordinate them into the correct sized panels to fit every tree.

And then begins the task of sewing them all into place.

As well as all of the trees, 

there are also 14 benches to be covered.

Of course, over the years the trees have all grown, although this was a new sapling that we added to our tally this year.

No-one really realizes just how much hard work goes into a project of this kind, until you are part of it and see the hours of work that are put in.

From the people who knit the panels, to the volunteers who give up their time in September to actually sew the things into place.

And of course none of it would be possible at all without the hours and hours of hard work put in by Davina herself, who coordinates everything and sews all the panels together before they make their way to the trees.

This year alone it took over 200 man hours to get the display in place, and that's just sewing the panels to the trees and benches, and thankfully only 20 to take it all down. I think we were all grateful for that given how wet it has been this week.

We are also very fortunate that a local Dry Cleaning firm is washing and drying it all before it is stored ready for next year. Nine large and very heavy bin bags of soggy wet knitting along with several assorted carrier bags full were probably not what they wanted to see, but they took it all in without a word of complaint.

So that is how I spent my morning, helping a friend, and a very worthy cause.

So a huge Thank you, Davina, for all the hard work that you have put into this, I hope that it is all appreciated. And here's to next year when I will be able to help much more now that I am a retired lady.

Thanks for stopping by,

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx

Embossing with Dies

 Evening All,

Definitely more crafting weather again today. Not nearly as windy, until this evening that is, but I did not feel like venturing out.

So, as it was so wet, I've been indoors playing with my dies again.

Just because it is designed to cut a pattern out of a piece of card doesn't mean that you can't use it to create an embossed pattern instead.

I used the die with a rubber mat in my Spellbinders machine,

and then I used a soft blending brush and some ink to highlight the pattern that had been embossed into the cardstock.

It makes a fabulous background to a card. Once again I used an Altenew stamped, coloured and diecut image. As you may have noticed this is rather a favourite of mine lol.

I'm hoping that it won't be quite so wet tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx

Best of Luck with Background Dies

Hello again,

I don't know what it has been like where you are, but it has been the perfect weather for crafting here........windy and pouring with rain. 

We woke up this morning to torrential rain, bins blown over and broken glass from the old greenhouse strewn around the garden. It's been too wet and windy to clear it up today especially since it is not in danger of hurting anyone. Besides which it's still blowing a gale so I might as well do the clean-up all in one go

So instead of cleaning today, I have been playing with my background dies in preparation for a crafty get together on Saturday. 

I have loads of larger background dies so it has been great fun trying to find lots of different things that you can do with them.

We all like to get more out of our supplies, especially when they are a little more expensive, like the larger style dies.

Here I have used my die with a rubber mat to create an embossed background rather than a die cut panel.

Same design, just different colourway.

I used the embossed panel across the card and then added a die cut floral image,

and a die cut sentiment which I covered with Glossy Accents.

I'm not seeing much let up in the weather here, so I can see more playtime in my future.

The physio came to see Mum again today, and while he is delighted with her progress, he has encouraged her to walk around the house at least every 60 - 90 minutes. I have been letting her do things for herself much more over the last few days, so we have agreed that I will just go in and nag her if she hasn't got up and walked around in the allotted time. It seems so harsh, but at least she agrees that it is for her own good.

Of course it will be much more difficult if I am out of the house for any length of time. You know yourself how easy it is to just sit and sleep when there is no-one else around, so I may have to rope in the rest of the family to take over on the nagging front at those times..........thank goodness for Facetime lol.

On that note it's time for another gentle reminder, and I need to get her pills ready so I will call it a day.

It's lovely to be back sharing things with you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Crafty Hugs

Kimx

Happy Halloween

Evening,

Long time no see, but it's been a strange few weeks, where things have not exactly gone to plan.

As you know I retired from the BP garage at the beginning of September to move in with my Mum and help her out a little. Well, that turned into 'Help her out a lot' when she fell over and fractured her pelvis.

The best laid plans and all that!! My move where I would be able to sort through things before I went, turned into a 'We've managed to get a van' so let's throw things into whatever bags and boxes we could lay our hands on!!!!!!! 

I am still wading through things, and if I'm honest I have hit a bit of sorting brick wall, but at least I have a lovely tidy bedroom/Craft room, so I have finally been able to get back to some crafting which has always been my sanity.

Mum is definitely on the mend, although it is a slow old process at 92. In fact this weekend I managed to get away to my youngest daughters for a much-needed break. A weekend of small children and Trick or Treating, what could be better.

This year Creative Expressions released some fabulous Halloween stamps designed by my friend Jane Gill.

As usual I made samples, only this time I tried my hand at my first ever Scrapbook page.

Becki loves Halloween, and goes all out with decorating the house, so I used some pictures of that for my page.

The background was created with gold embossing powder and various stamped images,

along with some gold mica sprays.

We took loads of pictures again this weekend, so perhaps I will try my hand at another page.........to keep for me this time!!

So that my crafty friends is why I have been missing from blogland for a while.

I am hoping that things will gradually start to get back to normal.. if there is such a thing, and that I will be able to share some cards with you. In the meantime I can only apologize if I have missed your special day, and I will try to do better in the future.

Thanks for sticking with me and stopping by to visit.

With love and crafty hugs

Kimx

Jane's Sunflower Rays

Evening,

As you know from yesterday, I got given a beautiful bunch of Autumn flowers by my colleagues when I retired from work on Friday.

By happy coincidence one of the stunning new floral stamps from Jane Gill's latest collection for Woodware at Creative Expressions, is this large Sunflower.

My flowers immediately reminded me of this card that I had made for the release.

I stamped, embossed, coloured and fussy cut the large floral image and layered it over a white frame cut using a Sue Wilson die set.

The background to the card has been created using a stencil and stencil paste and some ink sprays.

A reminder of my beautiful bouquet.

I hope that you have a good evening.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx

The End of An Era

 Evening,

It had been a very strange couple of days. 

Who knew when I made the decision to retire, that my last day at work would be the day after our Queen died having given us 70 years of dedicated service.

I have found myself very emotional, for all sorts of reasons. I gave up on trying to look at the newspapers until I was safely on my own as the tears began to flow.

My colleagues sent me off on my retirement with flowers and prezzies,

 including a picture frame created by one of the wives.

There was also a bag filled with bath goodies so that I can learn to relax, and an amazon voucher which will come in very handy, along with a generous gift from my Boss.

I had several cards and presents from customers, including a card with a tenner inside from our Biffa man along with a message to 'Have a Drink on Him'.

My last act as a BP employee was to help one of our regular disabled customers. 

I always take her shopping to the car for her, or get one of the boys to do it if I can't get off the till. But when I saw her enter the shop ten minutes before my shift ended I went over to her and told her of my intension to be her 'Personal Shopper'. We then waited in the queue along with several other regulars who all congratulated me on my retirement.

All in all a wonderful end to 20 years of service.

Not a patch on her Majesty I know, but I tried to do my bit.

I am now looking forward to the next phase in my life. I am going to move in with my Mum to give her some extra support. At 92 I think that she deserves a little looking after. It's my turn to return the care that she has lavished on me over the years.

I am also looking forward to being able to craft without the need to watch the clock and get a reasonably early night.

I have deleted all the stupid 2, 3 and 4 o'clock alarms on my phone, although my first week day of retirement will need an early wakeup call since I have a 8.45am dental appointment!!

We had a nice relaxing crafty class today, where I was greeted with Happy Retirement balloons and even special celebratory toilet paper.

Thanks for stopping by

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx 

Day 8 Creative Expressions Spooktember Challenge - Inky Terror(s)

Evening,

It's Day 8 of the Spooktember Challenge over at Creative Expressions Official Facebook Page, and the prompt is Inky Terror, or in this case Terrors lol.

I love this fabulous floral image from Jane Gill and I teamed it with a picture of a couple of Halloween Terrors, my youngest Granddaughters Emma and Chloe.

I'm not sure that they are very inky,  but they are certainly terrors on occasions.

I used inks to paint the rose, and did a little bit of partial die cutting to create the aperture for my picture. 

You can't have Halloween without a spider, and this stamp has a beauty as part of it. I have to say that it is the only way that I cope with spiders......stamped images only lol.

Hope that you will join us for todays challenge.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx

It's the Final Countdown

Evening,

One of the reasons for my absence from blogland over the past few months has been a brush with depression.

I have weathered all the major milestones in my life, with barely a backward glance....... 20, 30, 40, 50, even 60. But this year I have reached pension age, and it has completely knocked me for six. I went into total meltdown. Everything got on top of me, particularly work. And then I made a decision......I am going to retire. I've been at the BP for 20 years now, and I am so done. 

So this Friday will be my last day.

My youngest Grandaughter Chloe started school today so I am here helping out for a few days. She has had a chart on the fridge where she has been counting down the days, and so I have followed her lead and printed one for myself. It is very satisfying crossing off the days, especially when you realize that with the few days holiday that I am taking, there are only TWO DAYS LEFT!!

I quite thought that I would be working for ever, but I am going to live with my Mum, who at 92 deserves a bit of looking after. It also means that I get to have a complete reorganization and sort out of all my crafty STABLE (Stuff  Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy)

It is going to take a little while to get all my stuff over there, but I have the advantage of being able to do it gradually and have a real sort out.

As for how much I actually get rid of, I'm sure that will be another matter, and I bet that I find loads of things that I had completely forgotten about, but it will be wonderful to finally be able to get to everything.

I can see that my Dymo will be working overtime.

I have brought all of my clear stamps to my daughters to sort out, and boy are there loads of them!! Boxes and boxes full. That is the thing with having been crafting for nearly 25 years........you accumulate LOADS of stuff.

It was Chloe's first day at school today, or should I say couple of hours. She looks soooooo like her sister in the obligatory 'First day at School' photo.

On Emma's first day I took a photo of her with Mum and Dad walking in front of me hand in hand. Unfortunately it was Mummy's first day at school too, and Daddy had to work so Chloe had her photo taken on her own.

Mummy has just started as a TA (Teaching Assistant) at the same school as the Girls, so they let her meet Chloe in the classroom and see her in which was so sweet of them. It meant that Mummy didn't miss out on those first moments of the school day.

She did get a bit mixed up though, since my afternoon trip to the coffee shop, as planned, turned into a stay and play session. Not that I minded at all, it was lovely to be able to stay with Chloe.

There were lots of things to do, including colouring, one of Chloe's favourite things.

She insisted that this stay with her teacher, so I took a picture of it for Mummy so that she didn't miss out. I think that Mummy has moved down the pecking order for pictures now that Mrs Day has come on the scene. The children all love her, and she knows Chloe as Emma had her in her first year at school.

The house is all quiet now that everyone is in bed so I think that I will make the most of it and head up myself.

I would say that we get to do it all again tomorrow, but Chloe isn't back to school until Thursday!

This easing them in seems very long winded, especially since most of the kids have been going to Nursery full time for the last year at least. Oh well never mind I get to spend the day with her tomorrow, so I'm sure that we can find some things to occupy us.

Thanks for stopping by,

Love and Crafty Hugs 

Kimx 

Creative Expressions Spooktember Challenge Day 4 - Sugar Skulls

 Evening

Another reminder from me that todays prompt over at Creative Expressions Spooktember challenge is SUGAR SKULLS.

I'm afraid once again this is work done by my wonderful DT mates.

Sending Crafty Hugs

Kimx

Day 3 at Creative Expressions Spooktember Challenge - Blood Red

Evening,

It's Day 3 of the Creative Expressions Spooktember Challenge, and todays prompt is BLOOD RED.

 Unfortunately I haven't got anything of mine to share tonight, so here are a couple of samples made by one of the other DT members.

I hope that you have had a good Saturday. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Crafty Hugs 

Kimx

Haunted House At Creative Expressions

Evening,

We have a new challenge over at Creative Expressions Official Face Book Group. It's day 2 of the Spooktember 30 day challenge, and the prompt for today is HAUNTED HOUSE.

Jane has some fabulous new Halloween inspired designs, and once again I was lucky enough to get to play with them

I love this design with the rose and the spooky Haunted House.

It is JGS838 Moon and Rose and I have been a little creative with the original design.

I stamped and embossed it onto white card and then die cut the house and moon part of the stamp with a circular die and placed it onto a handmade background created using a stencil, paste and ink sprays.

I added the floral part of the image, stamped embossed, coloured and fussy cut along with the leaves left over from the original image that I die cut for the house.

I added a second rose image using 3D foam tape for added dimension.

I hope that you have been able to join us today, and share your stunning creations.

Tomorrows prompt is BLOOD RED.

Thanks for stopping by

Love and Crafty Hugs

Kimx

Spooktember 30 day Challenge

Evening Everyone

We have a challenge for you this month over at the Creative Expressions Official Facebook Group.

Boo! We're running a Spooktember 30 day challenge over on our Creative Expressions Official Facebook Group!

We’ll be posting a daily prompt each morning starting TODAY. Our day 1 prompt is Trick or Treat, check out this inspiration from our fabulous design team to get your creative juices flowing!

Join our group to get involved and post your own creations for us all to enjoy

You can browse our Brand New Halloween Collection on our website, so let’s get spooky!

https://www.creative-expressions.uk.com/new-products/

I know that I am a bit late in the day to let you know about todays challenge, but the day seems to have run away from me.

I will try and do better tomorrow, but as I am taking the kids out for the day so that Mummy can start her first day at her new job, it may not happen lol.

So just a reminder that tomorrow is HAUNTED HOUSE is the challenge for tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by.

Love and Crafty hugs

Kimx