Welcome to October ......

Happy Monday ......

Well .....I'm back from our little holiday in Croatia (more about that later) and it's full steam ahead. October is underway (scary isn't it!) and it's time for all the monthly Blog challenges to get started. First up for me is the Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

The theme this month is One Layer ...... not everyone's favourite I know, but I love it!
So .... not only does your design have to be Clean and Simple (CAS) ....... one main focal point and lots of white space, but ...... there can be no matting and layering and no using foam pads to add layers either.  Your design must be created on the actual card blank ..... so no mistakes!  This is easier said than done sometimes.  One Layer cards, for me anyway, are sometimes the hardest ones to create!
 
Not this time though ...... luckily this was done on the first run

I made myself a circle mask from a piece of copier paper and placed it over my card blank.  I then stamped the umbrella from the Happy Little Stampers Rainy Days stamp set, once fully inside the circle ......and then twice on the edge ..... heat embossing the full umbrella with clear embossing powder.
I created masks for each of the umbrellas, and put them in place before brushing Distress Ink through the circle mask to create a background ......

I removed the masks and stamped the umbrella again,  this time outside the circle with just the handle inside to create a bit of depth ........

I used my ZIG brush markers to colour in the umbrellas ..........

and I did add a few clear Nuvo Jewel Drops around the umbrellas for the raindrops .......

I finished off with one of the sentiments from the stamp set, stamped over the edge of the circle.

We've just spent a lovely relaxing week in Croatia ....... the Opatija riviera on the Istrian Peninsula. What a beautiful part of the world! Blue seas, sunshine and blue skies, breathtaking scenery ..... the food and wine wasn't bad either!

It was our first time in Croatia, but somehow, I don't think it will be our last.  Even though we did have a bit of a nightmare journey home! 
Firstly our flight was delayed but thankfully we knew about that the night before ....... at least we got to sleep in a little.
Once at the airport, we queued for 2 hours to check in!  Another hour to get through security only to find that the flight was delayed yet again.  After a technical fault, and a wait for air traffic control, we finally made it home, despite the bad weather that was also coming in ....... there was a few bumpy moments up there I can tell you! 
But it wasn't over then ...... 40 minutes to get off the plane!!! then another hour to get our luggage.  I'd heard things were bad at our airport but this was ridiculous.  A little over 12 hours it took to get home ..... we were shattered!

Croatia is lovely though ....... there's so much to see and do.  We were with a group on a sightseeing holiday (another first for us!) and although we did get to see a lot and visited lots of interesting places, for us, we didn't get to spend enough time in any of them.
You know us, we like to explore, check out the cities, the local food and wines ........ so there's definitely going to be a return trip at some point.  We have Kuna left over ..... the local currency ..... so it would be a shame to waste it!
I will share some pictures with you when I get chance to download them from the camera .... I haven't even started on the unpacking yet!

Thanks for popping by ........ enjoy the rest of your day.

Cheerio until next time .....