What day is it?

I have to use a diary and refer to it a lot.
It is not a lot of fun to look at at the moment as there are not many white spaces left.
I am seriously thinking of asking the Pope to fix Easter so it doesn't come so early and can be right in the middle of the school holidays.
That wouldn't help the number of days that have all day meetings followed by evening ones at the moment - but it would help.

All of which means my crafting will need to go on the back burner for a while... including this blog. I could have updated several times this week but have just been too pooped to type! So I'm just going to share my Salt and my DCM work for this week.
The theme for Salt is Inspiring Christian Women...
there really wasn't any contest for me as to who I would talk about.
Daphne was a URC Minister who was very young when ordained - 21 and so was a wonderful Minister to young people - because she was still one herself. She was good with all ages but I got to know and love her through various youth events. She was tragically killed, along with her two year old daughter, as they were driving away from church on a Sunday morning. A drunk driver hit her car. Weirdly I read her story in a Readers Digest article about a ward in a Cardiff hospital a few years later. The names were changed but the details were all spot on as Bethan lived on for a few days before her poor father had to decide to turn the life support machine off. He is once more happily married with a new family but thinking about his loss still makes me sad. And I can't believe it was 24 years ago now.

When I found out she died, having spoken to her a few days before (a rare phone call) I went through a rather dark night of the soul where I couldn't sleep for fear of being engulfed in grief. I was almost 19 and it was the first time I was old enough to really understand what bereavement was. I was on the Campus at Lancaster Uni at the time and early in the morning I went out to walk around to cry and ask God - why? And the trees looked beautifully green and the birds were singing and I felt that actually I would never know why - there wasn't any good reason why it happened. But that God was there with me - and Daphne - and her family, and that the big love that causes the seasons to turn and change is something that not even death can end. I suppose I learned that morning to be content in not knowing the answers but to trust in God. And it felt like the last gift that Daphne gave me.

Well actually describing the layout seems a bit trite after that - but I'll do so anyway. Its the sort of awkward pause that would make Daphne laugh - ok it might not be rude enough and she would laugh at anything but that is beside the point!
Scenic Route paper and stickers. Buttons from my stash. Doodling and make it yourself journalling spots. Here is a close up of what I wrote.

And then DCM today with my choice of subject.

I am woman

As its coming up to Mothers day in the UK here’s a chance to make a card that celebrates women and girls . So I’d like to see a card with at least one feminine image on it. And no Tildas, Bellas or Nellies.

I put that rule in just cos they are so popular at the moment and I wanted people to think a bit about what to do. My own personal challenge was not to use a stamped image. And not just because apart from said Tildas, Bellas and Nellies I don't have any...
A gorgeous girl at church is having her birthday on Sunday so I thought I would try and make a Charlie and Lola type characture of her. I found a picture of Lola that I could copy in terms of style and made the face I drew a bit more like Leona's. The papers are all Piggy Tales - some paper pieced to make the dress and socks etc and she was coloured in with watercolour pencils. I found a font called Trust this One on Dafont (thanks to a UKS tip off). A wee hint of doodling later and I'm done.

So I do hope I have a little crafty time over the next few weeks but can't promise so au revoir for now...