Endings and beginnings

Its a hard time for me at the moment as I go through lots of lasts over the next month, whilst trying to organise some firsts. This includes spending a lot of time off painting walls in the new house. And discovering what pans will work on our posh new hob which refuses to put the heat on under any inferior vessels. (Le Creuset, yes please; Pyrex, no. Pans bought three years ago to replace our wedding set - not on your nelly, it demands special pans)
There are lots of goodbyes to be said and working out what needs to be handed over as well as starting to think about the what ifs and maybe's of what God is calling me and the church to do in my new post.
 
I've also enjoyed Minister's Spring School. It has always been a bit of a joke that Phil and I go to stay with everyone else...4 minutes drive from our home. Next year, we will be proper tourists like everyone else. 
All of which has meant that crafting has rather taken a back burner and blogging, once again is the most neglected corner.

 I finished my Dad's Father's Day present. As he came to stay for a few days he already has it. It is an Attic 24 ripple pattern using colours that should match the sitting room, with a bit of extra blue thrown in as green and pink might have looked a tad too feminine. I worked out the random stripes myself and was quite pleased with that!

Daring Cardswise I have three weeks worth to share. Eek! The eagle eyed will also note that I hadn't tidied my desk inbetween cards 1 and 3 which meant I could use the same embellishments on both. Work it baby.

 3 weeks ago the theme was Coffee Shop. Now I loathe coffee. It is an abomination. But I do like a Chai latte extra hot from Starbucks (sorry) so wanted to use green and white on the card. And I had a fabulous Quirky Kit delivered with the chai latte cup die cut inside (not a coffee cup, not at all) and lots of lovely green and white papers and I felt very happy. Everything paper related is Pinkfresh. The green hearts are from an old QK and the sequins I have had forever, along with the white glitter ribbon. The little words are Tim Holtz.

2 weeks ago love was in the air with the royal wedding anniversary at the front of our minds. My wedding anniversary (28!) will be a few days before we move (have I mentioned I am moving?) and so it is good to get the card out of the way before life gets even more hectic. Yes I am that romantic.

 This mostly uses the My Minds Eye Fancy That collection which is great as it is the nearest to peaches and cream that I have ever seen in the scrap world and so is perfect for scrapping our wedding. Hey, those colours were bang on trend in the late 80's you know. OK I have had those papers and embellishments for about a year and not made a wedding page yet but still....
I also used gold mirri card - oh I am so retro. And a more up to date see through gold accent from a recent quirky kit. "you" is a Papertrey Ink die. The phrase fits so well as "you are my world" is the music at the end of our wedding video. The one we can't watch because we no longer have a video recorder!

And finally - THIS week's card is for the May elemental inspiration, what with it already being the beginning of May and all.

This was the inspiration piece.
Here is my card

I used brickwork (Tim Holtz embossing folder); the door (I swooshed brown distress ink onto some thin wood and pierced holes in it like the door on the photo); the bike (Clearly Besotted stamp) and some leaves - various dies cut out and coloured with Zig pens.
the layout was influenced by Kathy's sketch 
I added a sentiment from the same Clearly Besotted stamp set, some more green die cut hearts and some sprinkles that came in the same packet.
Just after I had finished the card the postie arrived with a prize sent by the lovely Sue (Miniowner) who had sent me a prize for her sketch challenge. Inside was.... a die cut bicycle which would have been perfect for the card!