J'ai retourne!

Yes blogland, I am back in the land of working interwebs (unless I've just jinxed it!).

I've had a lovely time with the family, so bear with me while I recall all the tales and finally manage to share some pics for the first time in a few days!

Saturday I went out with mum for a mooch round Chester. We didn't buy anything except coffee and lunch, but it was still fun. Then we went back to the farm to see Bodd.



Here he is!



Bodd isn't fazed by the cows at all - here he goes to get a wash from one of them!





Of course I got a good cuddle and a kiss!



We discovered that some kittens had just been born - literally within the last day! I want the grey one!



Mum then went to send the cows in for milking.



Bodd and I watched and this nosey heffer came right up to say hello!

Sunday I had lunch with nanna and grandad, and I also got to see my aunty Lynne and Uncle Ian and also went to watch my niece Ziva swimming. My sister-in-law Yael went in with her and me and niece Tabitha sat and watched. Well, Tabitha slept!

Dad and I managed a trip to the cinema to see TT3D - a 3D film about last year's Isle of Man TT, which was amazing. Guy Martin featured heavily and we ate loads of popcorn and sweets!

Then last night it was my grandma's 80th birthday, so we surprised her by getting all her kids and grandkids together for a meal! Was lovely to see them all again, although grandma embarassed us all by asking for great grandkids. She'll have to wait a few more years yet!

So that was my week back home.

Finally, a reminder that you have until midday tomorrow (Friday, 6th) to enter my birthday surprise blog candy draw here. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with the winner.

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And now for something completely different

No cards today - I have something even better to show you ...



It's Bodd! :-) I went up to the farm for tea yesterday so got to visit him. He has gotten quite fat - must be all the fresh milk from the cows! We had a good cuddle and I gave him some meat and sardines.



Here they are tucking in! Bodd is always first there. The little fudgey one is his best friend.

There are about 11 cats in total and they all cuddle up together in the hay or the troughs, so Bodd is being well looked-after.

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Buns & Roses WI quilt

We are making a members quilt at Buns & Roses WI and as a member of the craft sub-committee I had to be among the first to complete my section.

Each member is asked to create a 20cmx20cm square that represents them. They can use any medium and let their creativity run wild!

So, here is mine. I have featured lots of little things that represent me; a motorbike, Bodd, a cherry blossom, sewing, Formula 1, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, stamping and writing.



Here's the F1 car and bass line from The Chain!



This is Bodd with his odd whiskers! He was appliqued using some felt that Hayley made.



Stampin' Up! goodies!



And the motorbike and scroll and quill.



We're having a show and tell at tonight's meeting so hopefully others will be inspired to start their squares!

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Done and dusted!

Well if that was Christmas, you've had it! Hope you all had fun! I had a lovely time back with my family, with one of my dad's amazing roast dinners on Christmas Day, playtime with my niece and nephew at mum's on Boxing Day, and all sorts of other shenanigans! I braved the sales briefly yesterday but didn't buy anything too exciting - hair dye and a purse! And now I have rather a lot of work to do today, hence being up so early!
Sad news though is that Bodd is going back to the farm to live with his family this evening. I am going to miss him tonnes so anyone who sees me should automatically offer me a hug and purr at me to make me feel better!


Anyway, back to business! I made this card for Zoe from WI for her birthday last month. I CASEd it from a swap I got at Convention. The DSP is Woodland Walk, which is superbly awesome, and the sentiment is from the hostess set Cute By The Inch, which you can only earn by hosting a workshop! I added the final touches with ribbon and Pearls for some elegance.

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Some Christmas presents

This afternoon I will *hopefully* be getting the train back to Chester to spend Christmas with my wonderful family. Fingers crossed everything goes to plan! So far the trains are OK, but you never know! Bodd will be packed up in his basket, but unfortunately won't be coming back with me - he's going back to the farm as I'm moving in with my friend Tessa in January. I will miss him loads, and I'm sure he won't be happy about being outside in all the snow, but he will have his family there and I can visit when I go home.
Anywho, today'spics are two of the Christmas presents I have made this year. The bookmark is for my grandma and the cushion is for mum. Took me many hours to cross stitch them, and my good friend Hayley helped me construct the cushion! I made lots of other things as well, but forgot to take pictures before I wrapped them up.
Well I'm all packed and the house is tidy so not tokill a few hours before I head off!

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Sparkly flutterby

Here's a fun little card with some added bling!
I have used Basic Gray here and the DSP is from the Love Letter stack and has been folded and creased a bit and pounched with the Spiral Punch. The flower background and sentiment are from Just Believe - one of my Convention freebies! - and the butterfly is All A Flutter - one of the A La Carte stamps that are sold separately. I gave him some sparkle with a few of the gorgeous Rhinestone Jewels et voila!
I think I'll be doing more of this colour combo, it's quite contemporary and understated. I can picture a kitchen in these tones!
PS Please visit Bodd's blog at http://busyboddcat.blogspot.com/2010/11/bodd-in-bag.html for his take on how to use the SU bags!

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Getting ready for Stampin' Up! Convention

Today I've been busy getting ready for the Stampiun' Up! Convention. On Friday and Saturday, around 300 demos from the UK, France and Germany will descend on Addington Palace in Croydon for lots of training and stamping sessions. There's an awards dinner Friday night too, so got my frock all ready! Bodd helped me pack, of course. If he's not careful he'll be zipped in and have to come with me!
I will try to update while I'm away, otherwise, expect something on Sunday.

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Bauble barmy

I am loving the Stampin' Up! Contempo Christmas stamp set and matching Ornament punch. They are ideal for quick and fun cards. We made one of these cards at team training at Julie's the other week and I decided to make more. As well as the stamp set I used the Jolly Holiday DSP for some of the baubles. I love this stack - it is red, green, vanilla and pink with spots and stripes and good for other occassions as well as Christmas.
Today I'll be doing more crafty things and watching the F1 so expect more goodies in the week.
PS Bodd now has his own blog, please check it out www.busyboddcat.blogspot.com. He reckons he can get more followers than me!

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Bits and bobs

This afternoon I am annoyed as the UPS man came while I was giving Bodd a bath so I won't get my new goodies until tomorrow now. At least I got a lot of work done this morning and the cat is nice and clean!
Anyway, here are two more pics from the craft fair at the Cross Keys last weekend.


The other girl is Hayley, our treasurer at Buns & Roses WI. We already have one fair booked for next year so could be millionnaires soon!
Right now I'm going to brave the rain to buy something for tea then an evening of stitching. Am working on my mum's Christmas present at the moment, hope she will like it!
*EDIT*
Just as I was going out the nice UPS man came back! So now I can play this evening.

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Normal service will resume shortly ...

Apologies for the lack of updates. I have been battling on with my freelance work and the rest ofthe time enjoying cuddles with Bodd, so haven't done much card making and only a bit of cross stitch to keep me going craft wise.
I'm off home for a few days on Thursday and will be doing a workshop at aunty Shelley's, so expect to see and hear about that at the weekend. Now, I have to start prepping for that and thinking about what clothes I need for a night out in Chester!

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J'ai retourne

Well, I'm back now. Nicely bronzed and rested. Spain was fab, had a very relaxing time doing very little on the beach and by the pool! Here is the view from the hotel room ...

And here is what I now get to wake up to back in Leeds ...

My pussy kitten Bodd was pleased to see me I think. We had a nice cuddle this morning, although he's got used to having the bed to himself so I didn't get much pillow space!
No work this week, but still have lots to do. I have my forms to post off to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator (yay!) and alongside that my first workshop to plan. Some cards to make for the Summer Swap at ILWS, which I will sort this morning I think. Have to unpack, do boring things like go to the bank and Post Office, sort my work out blah blah blah.
Oh, and in mega exciting news I got a letter to say I have been awarded the Clare Emery Bursary from the WI Denman College for the Elizabethan Goldwork course next April! :-) Am very excited. I strongly suggest you go read more about the Women's Institute and what they get up to.
Right, off to start my busy day. Please do give me a nudge if I'm likely to have missed anything important over the past two weeks!

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