Diary Roundup, crafting and celebrating

Good Morning,

I'm popping in this morning to catch up on the blog before tackling today's job list and heading off for an early blood test at the doctors.

It's that busy time of year isn't it, are you getting organised for Christmas or all ready sorted...

There is a couple of craft classes to catch up on, last week we used stencils from

Designs by Georgina

Festive stencil and mini Dahlia.

We used with Kraft card, distress inks and on the Dahlia for a touch of glitz, Starlights from

Imagination Crafts.

How beautiful are these results...

The week previously was very CAS, clean and simple, using Blooming Marvellous Dahlia from
Inkylicious
You can probably tell I do love a Dhalia!
I also made a card birthday card for a special friend of mine, we met up for lunch and a good catch up just before her birthday which was lovely.

Last Tuesday was an evening of celebration as we attended Jennifer's new member ceremony at the
Chartered Accountants Hall in London.
It was a very special evening celebrating the fantastic achievements of all these new members, reminiscing over the gruelling three year study and 16 exams while "life" was put on hold to obtain success from all the study and exams.
We relived and looked back over the period and the recognition at the evening's celebration was so special.
The building itself is beautifully historical, wonderful inside and as the Christmas decorations had been put up it was like walking into the magic of Narnia, we had time to tour the building and the stunning rooms during the evening.
I will share the professional photo's when we receive them.

On Saturday we had Paul's annual Christmas bowls award evening for the outdoor club he plays for, he received two awards during the evening.

It's a festive evening with musical entertainment and a wonderful buffet put on by the wives of members.

This is usually the first of our Christmas "Do's" and it was a lovely evening catching up with the 

members and enjoying early festivities.

Ok, so that's my catch up for now must dash for my appointment, have a good Monday and thank you for visiting today, love and crafty hugs xKx

Workshop, mentoring, networking and fun Sarah Hurley Live Event

Hi there,

How are you all...
It's certainly been crazy busy here lately and I really have to pace myself to manage pain and be careful after my recent diagnosis of severe osteoporosis.
Treatment is starting after Christmas, there's a wait to get seen at the hospital to start the injections.
In the meantime I'm being sensible, have strong pain killers and a hot water bottle is a god send!
Onwards and upwards!...
Last Wednesday I went to Loughton, Essex to meet up with friends I made networking in Coventry last year with CHA-UK.
We met prior to Sarah Hurley's Live Event on Thursday and had a nice meal and catch up over a bottle of red.

On Thursday at the event location we were met and warmly welcomed by Sarah and her amazingly lovely team and Craig from CHA.
Coffee and pastries on arrival while we chatted and looked at what was in store for the day.
There was a panel discussion to start, announcements and seminars followed and Sarah was amazing telling her story and 25 mad, bad and crazy hilarious things that has happened to her in business.
I really respect Sarah for sharing these experiences so openly and honestly and I could relate to many of the things that were spoken about and discussed during the event.

There was plenty of tea and coffee and a lovely lunch, shopping experience and goody bags.

I was so lucky to have won a mentoring session with Sarah, I can honestly say that since joining CHA-UK and meeting Sarah I realise how much I've grown and developed without even realising it.
There are a couple of areas I still want to address and develop which is where Sarah's mentoring comes in but I'm thrilled to be in the position I am and doing something I truly love, teaching and sharing my passion for craft.
After lunch I held a workshop and so did Shabneez, who's project was gorgeous and I was so pleased to meet Shabneez, such a lovely lady.
For the workshop I used Sarah's Doodle Doll Christmas stamp sets and we created lovely tags to use for presents, as bookmarks or tree decorations.

After the workshops we finished the day with Sarah's lovely decorated cake and Prosecco!
There was also a couple of raffles.
Congratulations and a massive thanks for all your hard work to Team Hurley on Sarah's first Live Event, I'm already looking forward to the next one!
A super jam packed day, thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Have a good evening and I'll catch up again soon...xKx

Such a lovely Sunny Sunday

Morning all,

Hope you had a good weekend and are well?
Today's post is a catch up from Sunday's lovely workshop.
We had a chilled out day getting painty and messy, decorating and gilding treasure boxes.
We all needed a good catch up on what's been happening and we do enjoy a good laugh too.
It was super to see everyone and I'm blown away by the fabulous transformations each individual box!
I never tire of the old favourite, black gesso and gilding wax...
Horrified faces smothering all things pretty in black then bringing beauty with lovely gilding wax puts a smile on everyone's face :-)
Today is the weekly craft session and I'll catch up with you all again soon.
Have a good day and take care.
Crafty Hugs xKx

Spin Art

Good Morning,
Hope you had a lovely weekend.
Just recently I've been prepping some upcoming projects for various craft events I have coming up but had a little time to play also.
Last Christmas at the workshop we had great fun using an Art spinner with Brusho's.
I've used it on some more projects with acrylic paints and some Memory Box dies and added the link to the original post using Brusho's Here
You could try the technique with a cheap Ikea salad spinner (£4)
Such fun to do especially with children.
It's a busy week for me so I'm away now to get started.
Thanks so much for popping by and have an enjoyable, safe Halloween.
Love and crafty hugs xKx

Playing with Gel Press Petites

Good Morning,
How's your week been...
I've had a bit more "play" time this week which has been great fun.
In between ticking jobs off my to do list I slotted in some very important time to do a bit of forward planning.
November is going to be quite full on for me so I needed to plan ahead for a few crafty events that are coming up.
I was showing the ladies at the Tuesday craft session the new Gel Press Petites, I love both sets and have been having great fun with them all ready for when we use them in a couple of weeks time.

I've used them quite simply to create some backgrounds along with distress inks and stencils.
I have got some mini stencils but normal size work just as well depending on the pattern.
The first card used a Decoart lace doily stencil and a 6" x 6" wreath style stencil from Imagination Crafts, the other two cards use mini stencils.
Bird on a Branch stamp from Hobbyart, Halloween stamps from Chocolate Baroque and Bee Crafty and Dandelion heads, Lavinia stamps

This class should be fun, I'm looking forward to it very much.
I'm off out early this morning to get shopping done before I carry on with my other jobs and demo work prep.
Have a good day, crafty love and hugs xKx

Catching up on another week...

Hello and thanks for visiting today,
Last week was a week for spending time with family, enjoying good times and a bit of reminiscing.
You know what it's like when you haven't had anything social planned for a while then like buses everything comes along together.
We have a few weeks like that coming up, especially November that's another particularly busy time for me.
Last Tuesday Mr. C and I went off to the Orchard theatre in Dartford for the evening to see the Moon River and Me show.
We had a really lovely evening, a drink in the bar and got chatting to a few people while we were there.
The show is a tribute to the late great Andy Williams and I'd forgotten how many of his songs I started to remember when they were being sung.
The two guest singers were excellent and a tribute to another golden oldie Matt Monro, I felt quite emotional when Charlie Green sung Born Free.
Lots of songs my dear Dad and I use to listen to that he enjoyed.
I thought about my Dad a lot while we were there that evening and almost felt like I'd spent another evening with him in spirit, it was very heart warming to reminisce and a really lovely evening.

On Thursday Jennifer and I had matinee tickets for Aladdin at
The Prince Edward theatre.
It was a lovely day to travel to London the sun was shining.
The show was a riot and spectacle of colour, a really feel good, fun show, the Genie was brilliant!

After we went for a meal at a themed restaurant Bubba Gump, based on the Forrest Gump film.
Jennifer had enjoyed her visit to one in America last year.
It is a great place and the seafood is amazing, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

On Saturday we visited Krisha at The Meeting Place Cafe where I run my weekly craft classes, we had lunch, toasties and Pumpkin Spice Latte, so yummy!
This got us in the mood to get ready for Halloween.
I've been decorating acrylic baubles for my classes for both Halloween and Christmas, they're great fun to do and here's a look at what I've done so far.

Well the sun is brightening up now and I've lots to do so I'll say cheerio and wish you all a good day.
Love and Crafty Hugs xKx