What's this? Christmas cards already ........

Happy Sunday ......

Welcome to July! 

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Is the sun still shining where you are?

It's a little overcast where we are today, and a little on the breezy side but, it is still warm.  

Not sure what next week's forecast is, we're on the move again tomorrow so hopefully the nice weather will last just a little bit longer.

 

July certainly crept up on us, it's hard to believe we're already halfway through 2023.   We're going to be counting down to Christmas before we know it ..... there, I've said the C word!!

Speaking of Christmas, the craft world is already starting to see new festive releases, one of which is from the fabulous Sweet Poppy Stencils.  

Did you see Lucy on TV this week?   She was showcasing the first of this year's Christmas stencils and stamps from Sweet Poppy and, it seems like they were as popular as always, so you must be starting to think about your festive makes after all.

It's not always easy to make Christmas cards when the sun is shining and it's hot! hot! hot! outside but, I did get chance to spend a little time in the craft room before we came away on holiday using a few of the new designs.

This is JOY, one of the festive words stencils .......

I used the stencil with the Pearlescent White paste onto black cardstock, and then used glitter gel pens to add some colour 

I also added a touch of sparkle to each of the letters using a glue pen and fine crystal glitter. before stamping and heat embossing the rest of the sentiment underneath. 

A few gold and silver ink splatters on the background, and I finished off with a tiny sprinkling of Chunky White Embossing powder here and there, heat set from underneath the card so as not to blow it all away.

Here's a different look using the same stencil only this time, I moved the stencil slightly before inking each of the letters.

 

I used a little masking tape around each letter before using my Distress Inks to add the colour

My idea was to make the letters into baubles so, I added the look of a hanging chain to each one using a Stardust Gel Pen

I then stencilled the poinsettias again onto a snippet of white cardstock and fussy cut them, attaching them with a foam pad to give a little extra dimension

I blended Distress ink around the edges of the card keeping the colour from the centre and going darker at the edges.  I then splattered a little bit of water over the ink, let it sit for a few seconds before mopping up the excess with a paper towel, giving this pretty splattered look to the background ...... a sort of snowy effect.  An old technique that I never get tired of using!

One of the stamps from the new release is this pretty Festive Candle, used here with another of the new stencils ...... Holly Aperture Circle

I stamped and heat embossed the candle in gold, and then coloured it using Festive Berries Distress Re-Inker for the candle and Sweet Poppy Brush Markers for the foliage

I then used the stencil to add detail to the background ...... simply Distress Ink applied using a stencil brush, being careful around my stamped image

A little touch of glitter for added sparkle and my sentiment stamped in the centre. 

And then, to finish off I stamped and embossed the foliage again onto a snippet of card, added a touch of pearlescent paint to the flower and then fussy cut it, and attached it to the card using a foam pad to add dimension 

No time for colouring and fussy cutting, the Festive Candle makes beautiful CAS designs too ....

Stamped and heat embossed in gold.  Just a touch of colour added using pearlescent paints

and a simple sentiment stamped and a few splatters of ink to finish ...... simple but so pretty!

Well, that's just a few Christmas card ideas for you,  I'm sure that when my festive mojo really kicks in, there'll be more! 

We're still away in the motorhome ...... we're on day 16.  

We've spent the last week in the Norfolk Broads ...... very different from being here on a boat, but still fun.

We've been staying on a lovely campsite near Ludham Bridge, one of our mooring spots when we're here on a boat. 

Hubby has been working this week but we still found time to get out and about.

We've walked into Ludham village one afternoon to restock the van with supplies.  Found a lovely pub not far from the campsite .........  The Dog.  Great food and a lovely beer garden (sorry no pictures!)

We went the other way and walked into Horning one day,  another of our favourite spots.  

The boatyards looked busy in the afternoon ......

But things always calm down a little in the evenings ......

One of our favourite restaurants is in Horning ....... The Bure River Cottage.  It's a fish restaurant, just fish!  No veggie or vegan options, and definitely no meat, just fish!!

We love it there.  The menu changes daily,  and it's really hard to choose what to have, everything is always so good!

We've actually been twice on this trip (well, we are on holiday!) and had two beautiful meals.   We were there last night and we both had Baked Cromer Crab with a green salad ....... yum!

before

and after

This was followed by Pan Fried Wild Halibut, herb and butter sauce with brown shrimp and samphire Deeelicious!!!

We have had a lovely week here but, it's time to pack everything away and move on tomorrow.  We're not going far though, we've still got a couple of days left in the Norfolk Broads. 

We do need to re-stock supplies (again!) before we go anywhere so, it's off to the supermarket in the morning.  Then our next stop is Thurne, at what's known as a Certified Location (CL) campsite called Red House.  It's another new site for us, just a handful of pitches but it looks like it's right by the water so we're looking forward to checking it out. 

Thanks for popping by, enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Time for us to enjoy our last evening in Ludham

Cheerio until next time .......

Finally got around to blogging our last trip ......

Happy Friday ........

I hope you've had a lovely week ..... its been a nice quiet one here, and I'm looking forward to a bit of the same over the weekend.  

Can you believe we're almost half way through October already ........ that means there's something like 10 more Fridays before Christmas.  I'd better make a start on some Christmas cards soon!

A certain someone keeps reminding me that I haven't blogged our last trip in the van ........ and they're right!  So, before the silly season starts and everything goes all festive, here's a quick(ish) round up of what we got up to all those weeks ago ....... if I can remember!!

Here goes ........ We started our trip back in August, with a fantastic 4 nights in Walesby Forest, right in the heart of Robin Hood country, for the Torchlight Festival of Camping.  

Around 2000 campervans and motorhomes gathered for a great family weekend of music and entertainment.  The weather was amazing ......

We arrived a day early and managed to get a great spot ....... level, which is always a bonus, not far from the main stage, and only a short walk from all the other attractions ..... perfect!

There were campfires in the evenings and magical light trails through the forest .....

There were fairground rides and lots of things for families with kids.  A Wellness Sanctuary in the forest to relax and unwind.  The Club Pub with music everyday, where you could go for a good old party and singalong.   And then on the main stage we saw Gabrielle, Noasis ...... an Oasis tribute band who were really good, The Wurzels (now there's a blast from the past!) and Craig Charles.

We had the Ed Sheeran Experience, and Squeeze ..... another band from the 70's .......

On the Sunday afternoon we had Last Night of the Proms with the Camping and Caravaning Club Brass Band .....

Can't beat a bit of Bolly in the sunshine .....

And my favourite was Boyzlife .......

Keith Duffy from Boyzone and Brian McFadden from Westlife ....... 

 

It was a fantastic weekend, we really enjoyed it and we're looking forward to doing it all again next year.

From there we went on to Welwyn Garden City for a couple of nights.  Hubby had to work,  and needed to go into London so the campsite in Welwyn was ideal.  It was a nice little site,  not far from a railway station where the trains went straight into Kings Cross, perfect for where he needed to be. 

Next time we stay there though, we won't be parking under the trees ........ squirrels dropping acorns on the van roof is not something I like first thing in the morning!!!  Great wake up call when you need to catch a train though so it wasn't too bad.

London was just as I remember it ...... very busy!!  Nice restaurants though ....... we met one of hubby's work colleagues one evening and had a fabulous Indian meal at a place called Dishoom at Kings Cross. 

The food was amazing ..... definitely one for the return to list.

We were also treated to an evening in Vagabonds, a rather nice wine bar in the centre of London.  Nice food, lots of small plates so you can try everything, a good selection of craft beers, and over 160 wines you could try by the glass.  Again, another place to add to the list!

From Welwyn we went on to one of our favourite parts of the UK ........ the Cotswolds, returning to the Caravan and Motorhome Club site in Moreton in Marsh.  We ended up staying 5 nights here it was so nice.  Hubby was still working from the van in the mornings, and we would go out in the evenings. 

And I managed to spend some time with my journal which was nice.  I finally got around to finishing off this workshop by the lovely Tracy Scott ...... 

All drawn by hand onto Kraft pages in my Dylusions journal ....... the lettering was done using one of Tracy's stencils ...... and everything was coloured using Prismacolor pencils.

It took me a while but, it was so relaxing to do ...... I loved it!  It kept me busy whilst hubby was working.

We did have a day out to Chipping Campden ..... another beautiful town in the Cotswolds that we hadn't been to before.

We started the day at the Little Oak Vineyard.  You know how we love our wine so when I discovered this place on the internet we had to go, seeing as we were so close.  

We left the van in Moreton and got a cab there.  They were really easy to find, just outside of the town, and as you can see from the photo it was a beautiful  day ..... perfect weather for a wine tasting!

Gemma, one of the owners, was lovely.  She took us on a tour of the vines .....

she obviously knows her grapes .....

and is so proud of what they produce ...... and rightly so ..... the wine is lovely!  

Once the tour was finished we sat in the gardens, tasted the wines, and had a lovely lunch.  I can see this becoming a regular stop off on our Cotswolds visits!

Still in the Cotswolds, our next stop was Broadway ....... we were looking forward to this campsite.

It was another site that wasn't far from the actual town and we got ourselves a great little spot.

We'd been reading the reviews on this site and most were really good but, there's a railway line that runs by the side of the site and this was mentioned quite a bit.

Apparently the Broadway Railway Station was rebuilt a few years ago, and the steam trains have returned running to and from Broadway to Cheltenham Racecourse, and these run regularly over the course of the day.  Now, I suppose if you don't like trains then this wouldn't be the site for you, although there are pitches away from the railway line, so you can get away from it if you want to.  

We on the other hand loved the steam train going by, so we were pleased when we managed to get a pitch by the railway line.

We would watch the last train go,

and then at the end of the day, we would wander over there with a small glass of something else we got from the Little Oak Vineyard,  and watch the sun go down!

We had four nights at Broadway and loved it but, we had to return home at some point!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day and have a lovely weekend.

Cheerio until next time ......