Hello Everyone,

Happy Monday to you all. Here in the UK it is a bank holiday so an extra days holiday. I hope wherever you are you have time to do something nice just for you. I am off sailing in a bit then taking Mum and Herbie out on an adventure. Herbie loves the beach. We are so fortunate to live on the coast so have beaches all around so I am sure we will end up at one somewhere.

I can’t believe we are in September next week. The year is flying by. September is a busy month for me for sending cards to friends who are celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, congratulations, so I thought I would share a card I have made for a friend for his birthday. I love the bundle from Stampin’ Up! called Beach Day. I love this bundle, it is so versatile and I can see many uses for it

The Beach Day bundle from Stampin’ Up!

How I made my card using the Beach Day bundle

I started with a sheet of A4 Summer Splash card, which I put in the trimmer short side and scored at 10.50cms. Then I flipped it around and cut it at 14.85 cms. Scoring it first means I have two card bases ready to use, this is helpful when I am making a bunch of cards at once.

Next I cut a Petunia Pop mat layer 10 cms x 14.40 cms. I stuck this using multi purpose glue to my card base. I love multi purpose glue as you have a little wiggle room to move it if it’s not straight.

Next I cut my Basic White layer 9.50 cms x 13.90 cms. I blended an area for sand using blending brushes and Crumb Cake ink and the sea was made by blending the area using Balmy Blue ink.

Finally I stamped a deck chair, the parasol and two surf boards and coloured these using my blends. I love using Blends from Stampin2 Up! as you don’t get harsh lines like you do with felt tips. I added the sentiment and the seagulls using memento black ink and my card was ready.

Dart Sailability

Another of my hobbies when I am not crafting is sailing. Last year I joined a fabulous group called Dart Sailability, We have such a good time, we get to go out with experienced sailors and volunteers, It’s like belonging to one big family. Last weekend I took part in my first regatta. We entered two boats from Dart Sailability, Brian and I sailed in Oscar with Pete supporting us and Robert and Colin sailed in Equaliser with Chris and Bob as support. We took part in two races against 15 other boats. The first was called a Pursuit Race the idea was the slower boats went first then the faster boats had to try and catch the slower boats up. Both boats from Dart Sailability set off at the same time. There was a lovely wind and we were screaming along but not quite fast enough to catch the slower boats.

The second race was called a “Ton Up” race. For this race the ages of two of the crew are added together and for every year over 100 time was added to their handicap. A handicap is a scoring system where you get extra minutes depending on your handicap. We had an amazing time. We beat Equaliser in both races and managed to fit in eating a cream tea between races. We were having so much fun I forgot to take any photos.

Here is a photo of me sailing the other week in a Hansa or 303 as it’s also known. If you would like to know more about joining Dart Sailability either as a sailor or a volunteer please ask me I love talking about the fun we have.

New Mini Catalogue

The new mini catalogues have arrived. There is some gorgeous stuff in it. If you would like one please let me know and Herbie and I will pop one into the post on our walk.

Tutorial Bundle

I am part of the Tech4stampers Academy and every month we have a theme to write a tutorial for. There are 9 of us in our bundle group and all our tutorials are collated together to make a bundle. This is a great way to get nine ideas on a particular theme. I will send everyone who orders anything from me a copy of the tutorial bundle. August theme was flowers.

Well that’s it from us today. Herbie is asleep in his den probably dreaming of his adventure later. It is a glorious day so I am off sailing then will come home and take Herbie out on his adventure. I expect he is secretly hoping that there might be a stop somewhere nice for him to have his favourite treat a sausage or two. So I will say good bye now. If you do make today’s card we would love to see a photo so please do send us one.

Until next time stay safe and happy crafting.

Fiona and Herbie

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