It is my birthday today.

  Thought it was going to be just another ordinary day, but it turned out to be a very special one after all. 

I had so many telephone calls before I had even showered  this morning and then the postman delivered a few packages and a bunch of birthday cards! 

Got some gifts from my dear Lady and her family too, which was so nice and unexpected. I was also given the entire afternoon off, (only got back to work at seven this evening,) so I drove over to spend the afternoon with my hubby. 

I was greeted with two bunches of flowers, orange and white roses and white and yellow lilies, my best.  He cooked us an amazingly delicious lunch.  Fillet steak, done to perfection and salad of avocado pear and asparagus,  all my favourite foods.  He had also let the family from far-a-field know that I was with him all afternoon so I got to talk to all my precious family, wonderful, long, uninterrupted calls.

My Gene, he is really the most thoughtful person I know.

 I have come back this evening to so many Facebook messages too. I am feeling deeply satisfied tonight, I have the most incredible family, my friends are seriously precious to me and really I have had such a lovely day!

A few friends have also  celebrated their birthday this month and these are a few of the cards I have made for them.

Flower Birthday Card

Flower Birthday Card:  Close-up

Shoe Birthday Card

Cupid Birthday Card

Ohh and another thing, just need to let you all know that now that now that my birthday has come and nearly gone, it is a good idea to start your Christmas lists and perhaps start a little Christmas shopping – it is really not  that long now till the end of the year, just saying!

There is a birdbath  in the front garden that I fill every day at about 4 in the afternoon.  A flock of very young Starlings are usually hovering on the rooftops waiting to bath! What I want to know is  how they know it is bath time??

I had to sit dead still for about 30 minutes to get these photo's :)

They descend on the birdbath, splashing, diving in, dipping their heads, flapping their wings so that it looks as if we have a sprinkler going in the garden and generally they have an absolute ball.

Two little Bull Finches and a few Sparrows also try and get in on the free-for-all, a bit scary, I am afraid they will be drowned, I end up holding my breath waiting for them to pop out from between the much larger Starlings.   

Can you see the little Sparrow waiting on the edge  ready to jump in?

When they have all done their crazy ablutions and emptied the bath completely I  have to refill it for the sedentary Wood Doves to have a drink. 

What a delightful scene to watch and it is these little pleasures in life make me grateful for the wonderful world we live in.

Umm I have received some comments from some blogger's that I hadn’t seen when I was visiting all the creative spaces!   I am obviously going to have to go back to the list of blogs on Where Blogger's Create and start at A again.  Somehow I have missed quiet a few places  – well this is not a bad thing as I have loved every minute of ‘meeting' new people and I have been so inspired.  Sooo if you now get two comments from me, you know why, I am re-visiting you all!

Miss Olivia had a wonderful birthday, seriously spoilt by the looks of things.

She got a new bike and a helmet besides loads of other things that are important to 7 year old

This is what an uber cool 7 year old looks like on her birthday

My Little Olivia, so serious...  I think that at this age, when all their teeth start falling out and growing back, they become very conscious of their smiles.  I think it is such a cute stage.

Emilee and Olivia my beautiful, beautiful girls

JULY...... Water Lilly

and

Larkspurs

are the official birthday flowers for July, but my Grandmother who had a birthday in

July always told me that

Fuchsias were her birthday flowers.   

 The Fuchsias in our garden are in full bloom and

 absolutely beautiful,

I love the profusion of vibrant

 colours, purple, pink, reds and whites

I cannot see a Fuchsia without being transported back in time;

instantly I hear my

Grandmother’s

beautiful gentle voice telling me stories

 and she could tell some really amazing stories.

She cultivated my love of

 Fairies and all things magical.

July is a special month, full of special people with special birth-dates as well as being my personal month.   The 2nd of July was when my Grandmother was born and my Mom and Dad had their 56th wedding anniversary this year!    

My beloved Uncle was born on the 13^th July, I have a wonderful brother-in-law who has a birthday on the 8^th July,

I was born in July on my Aunts birthday

 and last, but certainly no least, my precious granddaughter

Olivia, is turning 7 today.  

The minute I saw her 7 years ago, I fell instantly in love with her !  She has inherited my ‘drama queen’ traits; much to her mother’s dismay, but I personally think this is a good thing :-)  She is  a delightful little girl and sooo precious. 

Happy Birthday my little Livi Loo.

 

I didn’t sleep last night, I lay with my eyes closed for hours, but I could just not sleep, all that kept  going round and round in my head is an idea that I have had for some Christmas presents.  A plan is formulating in my head, just need it to turn out the way I think it will.  It is all that beautiful vintage lace’s faultJ. 

 I eventually got up at 1:30, made tea and worked out what I need, a bit of fabric, some buttons, and pearl beads should start me off okay.  It was way after 2:00 before I eventually fell asleep! 

I have the afternoon off so I think I need to go peruse some charity shops and buy some bits and at least make a start on this project so I can sleep tonight, yawn.

I have such a dilemma.  A friend of mine brought me a gift of some hand crocheted cream lace yesterday to incorporate in some of my crazy quilting,

but I am not sure it if it would be right to use it.  Would you use it, should I use it?

It was made by her Mother-in-law so it must be about 50 to 60 years old!! 

 It was handed to me in a plastic bag that was all yellowed with age.

It is exquisitely made out of the thinnest crocheted cotton I have ever seen. 

The patterns are intricate and it must have taken her forever to make. 

 She hasn’t even sewn the threads away! 

Isn't it beautiful?

I only managed to tour a few creative spaces during the day yesterday, so I climbed into bed last night with my laptop and picked up where I had left off.  I eventually turned off some time after 12 so if there are any typos in my comments I am blaming blurry eyes.

What incredibly talented people there are who have the most amazing spaces where they create and such interesting blogs.  I am so impressed with each and every one of you. I have realised that nothing that we do is too small or too insignificant.  Really I was so amazed, but I must admit though I was a bit envious of some of the places too.  I have definitely added a few extra wishes to my wish list  – I want, want, want hee hee!

Thank you so much for the comments that were left on my blog.  I really appreciate them so much.  I am so inspired and so encouraged to pursue what I am able to do, no matter what it is,  with new vigour. 

3rd Annual Blog Party

I am soo excited and apprehensive at the same time, I am so new to  blogging, but thanks to Karen Valentine's encouragement I am joining in, so thank you for visiting with me!

You are forewarned that the tour of my Creative Space may be a bit different from others you may have visited in Blogland! 

 Let me enlighten you on my situation before we start the tour...... 

I do Live in  Care Work for a delightful lady who is 88 years old.  It is a 24/ 7 job for five weeks with a two week break. The day before my two week break I have to pack up everything and leave the room clear for the next care worker who comes in.  So I have to be very careful of not gathering too much ‘stuff’ in 5 weeks.    I  am also  limited to what I can do and how much of my time  it takes up- for the first time in my life I have to plan projects and curb the buying sprees.  

Welcome to my Creative Space...........

This is my room that I get to use for the five weeks; it is a nice comfortable space. I do however stash craft making stuff into every  conceivable space.

I have to make sure it is kept nice and neat and looking like a normal bedroom – after all it is not my house  so I keep all my sewing equipment, needles, pins and cotton in a box under my bed  and other necessary stuff under the spare bed – nice easy access and hidden to give the illusion of being neat.

I have most of my lace, ribbon and other larger stuff in some of the dressing table drawers. 

The larger quilting fabric and some UFO's live in this box so that it can be put in the car on my break and brought back for my next 5 week slot.  It has to live next to the chair cause it is too big for under the bed!

 I keep my knitting and wool in this box in the top of my cupboard.  This box stays here even on my breaks, it is out of the way and I usually only knit in the winter. 

I do sometimes sit in this little space in the sitting room and do a bit of machine work or card making, as long as it is not a continuous all day job, it is acceptable.  

 I am always  surfing the net to find inspiration for hand made goodies.  On one of these tours I found  the pattern for this  blanket on http://doyoumindifiknit.typepad.com/do_you_mind_if_i_knit/2009/05/the-quick-crochet-pattern.html  and crocheted it last winter when we were snow bound for a few weeks, I love the colours so much.

Most of my inspiration comes from my Mom and once she has given me ideas, the creative thoughts become like confetti in a hurricane, swirling around my head and this will keep me awake quite a lot some nights.
  As I am a serial crafter, I have tried my hand at just about everything, sewing, decoupage, embroidery, quilting, crazy quilting, scrapbooking, I have even done a few oil paintings! 

 My daughter Hayley works for the Piggly Wiggly,  so I painted her this Fairy Pig for her office wall.

My serial crafting causes me to be a serial collector,  lace, fabric, ribbon, paper, ag anything that I can use and even stuff I cannot useJ.  Purchasing stuff,  is after all half the fun!

I have a passion for making Victorian Tassel Dolls.

and I love doing Crazy quilting.  Once I have pieced the  bits together I can spend hours embellishing and  embroidering.
In this square I have incorporated a photo of my oldest Granddaughter when she was just a couple of weeks old. .

And in this one I incorporated a picture of my oldest daughter Hayley and my youngest daughter Tammy.  

 I have finished the embroidery on these two squares, but not quiet sure what I want to do with them now.

Quilting is another serious passion, but this is a bit of a more difficult craft to pursue at the moment, although I did  finish the binding on this quilt and the  embroidery during the trips we made  on breaks!

I love embellishing printed pictures, this is a linen dish cloth that I am embroidering and using beads to embellish.  There is a lot to do still, but it is such fun. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share my passion and my space with me, please come again!

Hello all, I have missed writing on my blog, but I am back  now from my two week break, rested and ready for my next 5 week slot.   My break was an absolute wonderful time with hubby, loads of family time, visited my parents and spent time with my grandchildren! 

Jamie and Nathan with Magic Cat

 Our twin grandson’s are stunning and have stolen my heart, but what a time consuming exhausting job it is to take care of them.  I am in total awe of my daughter

Tammy and how well she is coping and the excellent job she and Neil are doing.

 We went to the Lake District for four days to attend a wedding of one of our ‘other children’.  When I say ‘other children’, we have a few young people in our lives that were introduced to us when they were youngsters going to the same schools as our our three children.  They have become and integral part of our family and we love and respect them all so much, so it was such an honour to be able to attend Lee’s wedding.  There were six of our ‘other children’ attending the wedding that we hadn’t seen for 5 years or so. It was such a wonderful time, we loved every minute and it did my heart so much good to be with all these much loved people. 

Besides all the wonderful family time, I was exposed to the most incredible scenery ever, the Lake District is beautiful.   The lakes and mountains of Cumbria took my breath away.   I loved it all so much!

The scene out our hotel window

 My precious Mom gave me this delightful little sewing machine.  It is about 8 inches tall and seven though it only sews straight lines it is perfect for little projects.  I want to use up all my small bits of fabric and make a crazy quilt.  Love Crazy quilting!

And a friend bought me this wonderful ‘Knitting Bag’ at a Boot Sale.  It is spacious enough to hold whatever project I am working on so it can travel with me J