A Great Age Reached

Its a very long time since I made a special card, let alone blogged about one, but this week I had to create something for my Mum's 90th birthday - which is today!  In our local shops the "90 today" cards were uninspiring or just plain unsuitable so I got out my favourite Fresh Cut Floral sets from Wplus9 and came up with this.

At 90 my Mum's interests in life are few as she in not in the best of health but she does like flowers.  I suspect today the house will be rather short of vases to hold birthday bouquets - two large boxes of blooms have already arrived from distant relations.  I just had to have 90 on the card but as I don't have any number stamps or dies I printed out large numbers in a suitable font on plain paper, cut them out, traced round the shapes onto masking paper, cut those numbers out and arranged them on my card base.  Then all I had to do was fill the front with stamped images.  I love the layering opportunities of the Fresh Cut Florals sets and spent a happy hour stamping away before carefully peeling off the mask.  I'm pleased with the result.

Here's the birthday girl at her party in another age.  Mum's the little girl shading her eyes from the sun in the middle of her friends.  Probably 6 or 7 years of age in her back garden in Knighton in Mid-Wales.

And another photo includes her Mum (in the centre), the midwife that brought her into the world (left) and their little "mother's help" dressed in her lacy maid's cap for the occasion - I understand quite ordinary folks had a "treasure" to help in the house in those far off days.

Its nice in Nice!

Err, no - that's not me (I wish!), just a neighbour on the beach.  I had a trip to Nice in France last week visiting my sister and nephew, who was graduating from The International School of Nice.  I'm not a city person but Nice really is a lovely city.  Here's a few images that might just tempt you to a visit some time.

Since my last visit 18 months ago a beautiful modern park has been created on the site that was previously home to an ugly bus station and car park.  Now the Promenade du Pallion stretches for almost three quarters of a mile from the center of the city down to the promenade and the sea.

There's beautiful prairie-type planting on both sides of the long narrow park, shady and sunny sitting places, really imaginative play areas for the children, lawns to picnic on and simply wonderful mirror fountains that temp both children and adults to playfulness.

This little girl, about 3 years old, certainly made the most of cooling off on a hot day.  Although you might think there could be falling dangers here, the shiny marble like floors were not at all slippy.

 

A wander around the Old Town is a must if visiting Nice - narrow streets between high buildings full of small shops, restaurants, and opening up into squares where you can linger and enjoy an ice cream or cold drink.

And finally opening out into the Flower and Produce Market - a camera here is a must.  I wish I'd had a bit more time here but there's always my next trip. 

At night the stalls are cleared away and restaurants, which line all sides, bring out their tables.

And of course Nice old and new is full of the most interesting shops.  I managed to resist the patisseries (well almost) but did bring home my usual packet of herbes de provence and a little something from this olive oil shop.

We did have time for one excursion and chose Haut de Cages, one of the many "perched" medieval villages in the area.  This one kindly laid on a free bus to the top of the old village, though we held our breath as the driver squeezed through the narrow streets with just inches to spare!

When at home I find it hard to get myself into travel mode but I always enjoy my trips to Nice and its lovely to see my sister between her visits home at Christmas in the summer holidays.  We had our usual meal out on our last night and as we wandered through the Promenade du Pallion home, again stopping to watch the fountains, I was already planning what to do on my next visit!

Zipped in!

I love this idea from A Spoonful of Sugar - my phone is always at the bottom of my bag and I usually end up frantically tipping everything out to find it when it rings.  The middle purse here was made to fit it and I simply clipped to the inside pocket of my bag and hey presto no more searching when I hear that insistent ring.  I found the three vintage animal embroidered ribbons in France when I last visited my sister and these little purses are the perfect project, using only small pieces of the precious stuff.  One for me and one each for my sisters.

 
I've not tried zippered purses before and needed to practice a bit more so I adapted the tutorial to make some larger purse/pockets - one for my sister's fancy all singing all dancing phone and one for my reading specs - another item that hides at the bottom of my bag!  These two feature printed cotton tape and ribbon which is easy to find in craft stores and on line.  But I bet you'll already have some in your stash and just haven't found the right project to show them off till now!

 

Ready to Travel?

I recently offered to make a little cross body bag/purse/pouch for a friend who is soon going on an exciting trip and had not been able to find anything she liked in the shops.  I set about searching Pinterest for a suitable pattern and came across this one from Susie's Country Garden - and conveniently there is a free PDF.  I find going backwards and forwards from laptop screen to sewing machine tiresome - especially as they are in different rooms! 

The bag was quite quick to make so I made another one the next day using an old printed traycloth I had squirreled away.  As with all patterns my second bag was slightly altered to suit - I used the blue edging from another traycloth as a strap, omitted the inside pocket and added a magnetic closure - although using an elastic hair tie is a great idea and works really well.

Here's a picture of the back which shows the cottage pattern.  This is a great little bag if you are planning a trip or an evening out when you don't want to take your daytime handbag with you.  Thank you Susie!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day all - unfortunately the sun has disappeared behind the clouds today but we did have good weather for the Easter holiday so can't complain.  Here's a picture I took on Good Friday when we made a trip to Marl Hall Wood near Llandudno.  This is Ffrith Hill, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and in the distance you can just make out Gwynt y Môr Offshore Wind Farm - apparently destined to be the largest in Europe!

Climbing to the top of the wood you can enjoy views across the Conwy estuary to the mountains of Snowdonia.  To me this view over Llandudno Junction is rather spoiled by the sun shining on the roofs of the caravan park and the faint noise of traffic on the A470 below.  Still it was worth the climb to sit in the sunshine and watch the many bumble bees around us looking for some nook or cranny to build a nest.

Hacking through the thicket!

I'm imagining myself as the prince in Sleeping Beauty while trying to cut back the brambles that are slowly taking over the bottom of the garden.  They have moved forward at least 6 feet in the last 2-3 years and I've just ignored their creeping intrusion as I love the blackberries in September.  But now the time has come to knock them back to the fence again.

And I am getting there very slowly and looking forward to a bonfire of all those horrible thorny stems.  But here are some more selective garden images from this sunny Eastertide.

And there are compensations for working until dusk - I get to see the sun setting!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I'm wishing all my wonderful followers a VERY HAPPY EASTER.  The sun is shining, the sky is blue and I'm hoping for a walk in the beautiful Welsh countryside and lunch out today!  Make sure you find something special to do if you have time to yourself too.  I made these Scrabble and Hama bead signs for my stall last weekend but forgot to take them with me!  Oh well, they'll come in for next year.