Okay I am shamed into this by my so called online friends!!!!  Alana has challenged Sandra and I to blog once a week (hmmm we will see) and Sandra has promised to nag me into submission in the tidying of my craft pit (sorry room).  Sneaky Sandra slipped in a blog post while I was at work - how below the belt is that - only kidding Sandra.

Not much crafty going on here at the moment due to all the extra working I am doing as we reach the end of the financial year at work.  I am so looking forward to having a break for Easter when I am off to my parents caravan which is at Beadnell in Northumberland for a few days.  I love that area, I have been going there for over 40 years and it really is my wee bit of paradise.  Fingers crossed for some decent weather although it is not looking likely as we are a bit snowboard here.

I habve just taken  part in my first swap on UKS with my team which I joined recently, the All new lost girls - so far I haven't earned any points for them but have enjoyed chatting with them.  The swap is to decorate and fill a Cooks matchbox with embellishments.  I had to post to Daphne whose favoutite colours are green and purple so I tried to theme the contents and the decoration.

I received my matchbox from Alison, it was beautifully decorated and filled with lots of "little treasures".

 I also joined in time to join in a circle journal which will be starting in April.  This will be my first time of joining in a circle journal and I am so looking forward to it.  My theme is to be "My Happy Place" and from this post I bet you can guess where mine is.  I have cut board for the front covers and am playing around with some card and patterned papers.  I will post once I have decided what I am doing finally.

I also got some  more wool and have started to knit a short sleeved one button cardi - I have just started this but will post a picture once I have done a bit more. I will take it to the caravan with me and hopefully get a bit done there.

Went to the crop  yesterday and had a great time.  They really are such a friendly bunch.  I didnt get much done but did make a Mothers Day card and box for my Mum for next weekend.  I  used paper and card from the March Cleo Crafts kit - Prima flights of fancy - Im afraid my camera doesnt do it justice.  The base of the card is Coconut cream Coredinations stamped all over with a flourish stamp layered up with gorgeous cream prima paper with writing on, Rouge Coredinations card and a strip of lovely meshy ribbony stuff which also came in the kit.  The flower is made from circles of tissue paper which I inked with distress ink as it was too pale, scrunched up, opened up again and layered up and joined with a brad.  I then separated out the layers and coloured the edges with a watermelon paint dabber.  The word Mum was cut with a sissix alphabet, embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder and then sanded lightly to show the core colour.

Box  is made from corrugated brown card also coloured with the same paint dabber and another tissue paper flower.  I may add some ribbon to finish it off.

I also covered a cook's matchbox for a matchbox embellishment swap Im joining in with my team but I wont post that just now in case the recipient sees it.

Im off to the newsagents this morning for the latest issue of Craft Stamper mag so that I can read the final part of Kate Crane's  (the Kathryn Wheel) masterclass on art journalling.   I have made a cover for my art journal and cut the pages but I'm not happy with the cover and may start it all again.