Catch Up Part 2!

Hiya again Folks!
Thought I'd break up the post catch ups...don't want to overwhelm you all in one hit!!!!!! LOL

Along with the happenings in Part 1 I have had a holiday taking in the heady mixture of Macclesfield, Harrogate and Budapest as destinations!!! ROFL
First off a train to Macclesfield to stay with my friend and her husband for a day before my flight to Budapest. ;)
So we took advantage of the fact that, after a very early start, I was there for nearly a full day and visited NT Tatton Park.
...big hugs to my SF for taking me to the station at such a silly time of day!!!

The fabby library...

The fern house....wow!

Hope my banana gets this big one day!

 The next day I met up with the northern girls and flew to Budapest on my god daughters hen do...

...the Danube...it really is blue some days ;)...

...a welcome long cool beer on a hot, hot day!

 Lots of lovely meals...

A great bespoke tailor...these are high end bridal tunics ;)

 A quirky decoration outside a cafe...I think I need an old bike I can paint all one colour right now!!

Superb produce in the market.

The bride to be (in red tartan) and her chief bridesmaid

Step mum, God daughter and me!

Love and hugs to you all.....there is another update due shortly ;)

But before that there is a little something for The Artistic Stamper tomorrow.

Sioux xoxo

P.S. Anyone know how I can turn off this flippin highlight colour on the background of my text?!!!

Catch Up Part 1

Hiya Folks!

Long time no speak!!!!!! LOL

Time just flies by when you are really happy :)

It flies even faster when you are busy, busy too ;) ROFL

SF and I continue to enjoy each other and the lovely weather we have had this Summer :)

We relaxed as much as possible in the garden...

We went to look at churches...

...and decided on the church in Salcombe for our big day next May :)..see below

Sadly...my fabulous Auntie Bella who was 101 died a few weeks back and we made the trip to Lancashire and back in a day by plane to attend the funeral celebration...
...Yes...celebration for an amazing lady and her long life...lived well till the last few weeks...
...it was a very long and tiring day but so worth the trip...I only hope, as I have said before here, that I have gained some of here genes...

...it was lovely that SF wanted to share that with me :)

We went to Exeter one Saturday and had breakfast in Carluccio's...
...57 and only had breakfast out once before (and that wasn't with Pip but with my best friends husband who treated me!)...I've led a sheltered life ROFL! It was such a nice thing to do together...

...browsed in John Lewis and saw a brilliant corner sofa that would be ideal for us both to suggle up together on :)...

...(yes SF is not against having a browse in the shops)...
...now that's a very different kettle of fish to me....but I'm getting used to it ;) ROFL!

...then we met up with his son and his girlfriend later and shared a meal in Ask (an Italian restaurant) near the Cathedral that ended with sharing a sharing platter of desserts ;)...

...well you have to have a treat once a week don't you? !!!

I'll be back shortly with the next installment.

Love and hugs to you all....sorry for being absent!!!

Sioux xoxo

Home Tag for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a tag today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Share my World for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a thrinchie hanging piece today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Unique Self for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a journal page today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Dapper Man Winner

The final count of entries on this post for winning the ATC and the dapper man stamp was 12

The random number generator came up with number 7 as the winner so that is you

Dot's Dabbles

Please e-mail me your address (on my profile) and I'll get it off to you ASAP ;)

Thanks for taking the time to comment and happy stamping.

xoxo Sioux

Postcard Card for The Artistic Stamper

Last months challenge entries were a pleasure to look at :)
So..... how about the theme for August?

"Postcards, Travel and Holidays"

Yes it's all about those dream destinations or chilled out feel of a trip away for August over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team ;)

I made a square card and started by making the background layer.

Using the triangular luggage label I stamped it a few times in Archival aquamarine. I then masked all four images and stamped the French label from the same plate in Distress tea dye in a random manner all over.
I then used the negative mask to colour over the triangular images with the same Distress tea dye.

Finally tattering the edges and aged with Distress walnut stain.

I made a matt layer to go underneath by colouring with some Distress worn lipstick and walnut stain over the top to dull it down a bit.

The postcard was a piece of Kraft card onto which I stamped the words Carte Postale from carte postale plate in Versafine. I drew the dividing lines with a pen and added the script text mini calligraphic background on one side in Archival coffee and the Special Delivery in Archival crimson.
The stamp from carte postale plate was stamped onto white card in Archival aquamarine, cut out and tattered round the edges and aged a bit with Distress worn lipstick and a touch of tea dye.

This was then glued to the postcard and the franking lines from T!ms Paris to London plate were stamped in Archival crimson. My sentiment of choice was added in black.
The postcard was then attached, along with two more labels from the labels plate, to the card.

You really must take a look at the "Postcards, Travel and Holidays" creations the rest of the team have made.

So don't forget.............the monthly challenge is "Postcards, Travel and Holidays"

The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art, journal page;)... just remember that it must include some rubber stamping and the theme... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto.

I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until August 31st and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux

P.S. Entries are now closed for the give away but come back at 19:00 today to see who has won the ATC and dapper man stamp from this post.

Explore for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing an ATC today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Happnin!

Today in Brixham is the happenin! It's a party in the park where I live with live bands all day and into the night. SF and I enjoyed a walk to breakwater beach and swam together. So simple but so special for both of us as neither of our departed partners liked it!!! Yet another spooky thing we have in common ;)
Anyways we sauntered home and enjoyed a bit of an al fresco snack listening to the music.
Tonight it's up the park with a couple of bottles of wine and a picnic and meet up with friends.
Hope this glorious weather brings good things your way. Enjoy!!
xoxo Sioux

Sweetheart

My sweetheart bought these sweetheart matching sets for us to use ;)
My hero.
Mange tout are arriving thick and fast at the moment!
Have a great weekend folks.
xoxo Sioux

Grace for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Full of Love

My blog lies unloved and neglected :(

My SF and I just seem to distract each other quite a lot!!! ROFL

We shared another wonderful weekend together last week and these petals from one of my roses were just begging to be captured with my camera.

We are working our way to the point when we can share each and every day together.

Mmmmm.....I need to make a start on a "Save the Date" card!

Yes we have a date in May for our wedding next year........today is the anniversary of our meeting this May....just 2 months ago.....Wow!!

xoxo Sioux

P.S. I'm sharing a card tomorrow for The Artistic Stamper........see you then :)

I have a little box!

Hi folks...I was a very lucky girl on Friday ;) my gorgeous SF bought me a little box.

And in that little box was...?

Why my engagement ring of course :)

It was all a bit serindipity as we had planned to go to Exeter to look but on Thursday I decided to have my existing wedding/engagement rings cut off to be resized for wearing on my left hand and to allow me to actually try on a ring on the right finger!! LOL

Before I went in the shop I was looking in the window (something I don't usually do!) and spotted this ring. It really caught my eye....I have a yen for a Celtic trinity knot wedding band and thought this would go really well with that idea.

Luckily when SF and I called to look at it the day after he really loved it too! It seems we are even in tune on the jewellery front as well ;)

I am a very lucky girl to have found someone who loves me as much as I love him.

It needs resizing yet. It can't be done for a couple of weeks as my finger needs to regain it's shape after many years of being squashed by my rings being too small!!!

Well....I was much thinner when I married in 1977!!! Rofl

Thanks for sharing our happiness and for all your good wishes, we really appreciate it :)

P.S. We are both as crazy as each other! There was me taking photos of the box and the ring, and there was SF taking photos of me taking photos !!!!ROFL

xoxo Sioux

Flower Card for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Love Begins - A collaboration

My SF and I are so in tune with each other it is unbelievable.

We are both artistic, although he freely admits he leans towards the written word.

He wrote a poem to celebrate our meeting and love.......big sigh! ;)

This then inspired me to create a little art work as a backdrop to his beautiful words.

I could not resist the other week and bought myself yet another little journal book - a very lovely moleskin.

The landscape was created using Distress Inks....the mountains are simply some torn paper used to create a mask to smudge the inks over.

The trees and foliage are from Inkylicious and the wording was hand written with a calligraphy pen using Dylusions ink in melted chocolate (the ink is great for this purpose).

We are off to Exeter today to search for an engagement ring and to find out just what our ring sizes are!!!

So I hope you like this collaborative piece....the words are very special to us.

Lets hear it for SF please :)

xoxo Sioux

P.S. I have a little something to share with you for The Artistic Stamper tomorrow.

SB turns into SF!

Mmmmm.......this is a long post...

Hold on to your hats folks!

(you may want to keep it for a special occasion)

My very, very special SB and I shared a wonderful sun filled day on Saturday.

We smooched around Totnes.....lazily stopped for coffee....bought some nibbles from the deli to eat later in my garden.

I found a plant that I had coveted since seeing it outside the hotel in Florence last year...

...and it's now adorning the front of my house. :)

Garden is looking good at the moment by the way.

The poppies are a special favourite.

We made a small detour to Broadsands beach on the way home and walked by the sea listening to the waves rolling in, watching the birds as they flew by.....stopping to sit on a bench to admire the view, chat, kiss and cuddle ;)

And then...

...and then...

Yes...he asked me the big question!

You know the one?

"Sioux?"...he paused...

...I turned to him and said "yes...?"

"Will you marry me?"

I paused...

...I said YES! :)

So Special Boyfriend is now Special Fiancé ;)

Wow!

This is a whirlwind I know...but when something is right it is right and this is soooo right :)

We are so right for each other...we love each other...we want to grow old together...

...although, as you know, I already have a head start on him on that score!!! ROFLIA ;)

We celebrated later in the garden with rosé Cava (of course!)

and shared an al fresco spread.
(Elder flowers picked near Elberry Farm on our circular walk back to the car)

A perfect day in so many ways.

We watched Casablanca together in the evening...although I managed to nod off about half an hour from the end!!!
He said he did not want to wake me as he was enjoying me sleeping in his arms?

Special huh?

He is the hero I was holding out for :)

Going to have to find a ring now....it needs to be just right...

...oh dear I suspect this could take some time! ;)

xoxo Sioux

Time Card for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Wow! 4 weeks ;)

My very special SB and I celebrated the 4 week anniversary of our first meeting on Saturday. We revisited Dartmouth, taking the ferry together this time ;)

Things just get better between us with each passing week :)

Please excuse the wonky candle in the photo, it drove us both crazy too!!!!

xoxo Sioux

Male - Love U card for The Artistic Stamper

You all created some great "Words" entries for last months challenge and thanks for playing along :)
So..... how do you feel about this one then?

"Male"

Yes, love 'em or hate 'em (and I am soooo lucky to have found that special someone I love and who loves me in return) that's the June theme over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team ;)

I made a card for the theme this month.

I firstly stamped Franswar in Archival black (making sure I did not ink the hat he wears ;)) onto a square piece of card smaller than the base card.

I then masked him and stamped the new background stamp "marbled 2" in Distress Ink mustard seed on one side and the other new background stamp "random background" in Distress spiced marmalade on the other half.

Oooh! I am so loving those two new backgrounds ;)

I stamped the crown from "Crowning Glory" on to some designer paper and cut out and glued to the base.

The letters were cut from Sizzix dies and coloured with Distress in peeled paint and aged mahogany, with the "U" being covered with Adirondack dimensional pearls in wild plum before being glued down with glossy accents.

The wording "special delivery" was added to each corner and a touch of Distress aged mahogany was added to the edges to age a little.

This was then matted onto another piece of card slightly larger and both mats and layers were edged with a dark marker for definition.

You really must take a look at the "Male" creations the rest of the team have made.

So don't forget.............the monthly challenge is "Male"

The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art, be it a card, ATC, wall art, altered art, etc.)... just remember that it must include some rubber stamping and the theme... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto.

I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until June 30th and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux