Climbing slowly back into the saddle

Well, what have I been up to since last I put fingers to keyboard?
I have....

• said goodbye to Torquay and moved to Cranbrook
• settled into the new house, although there are hardly any pictures up yet and one room needs storage stuff putting up
• met loads of my new neighbours and discovered what a community friendly place this is
• finally had my DBS (safeguarding clearance through the police) which took from 9th March-  24th June and meant I could not start work straight away
• said goodbye to our dog Lucky who managed the move successfully, clearly loved her new pad (especially the carpets, much more comfy) and cleverly waited for Phil to come back from a 5 day barge trip so that he could be part of her last hours
• seen our chickens happy in their new homes at St Martins school. I bought some eggs from the school farm shop yesterday and we are pretty sure we have one of Chantelle's.
• Gone on a wonderful family holiday spending a whole week on Holy Island which remains as special a place in my heart as it was before. Then spending another week 5 minutes from the end of the causeway which meant I could enjoy mainland Northumbria without worrying about tides
• travelled to General Assembly of the URC in Southport and had a great time getting to grips with Consensus Voting which can be painful at times but seems to bring more positive results than a straight vote. I did have great angst over being asked to be a teller as counting is not my strongest point but I was only needed for one vote - that URC congregations are allowed to register to hold same sex marriages. I am glad that should my son and partner wish to, they can now be married in Church.
• Been welcomed in a joyful and creative service as Minister for Cranbrook. I contributed some scones. My baking skills are not hugely better than my counting ones but I used lashings of clotted cream from a farm that is 10 minutes drive away so no-one would notice. I was given some wonderful symbolic items including this
  
  
  - a hard hat filled with flowers that all have a special meaning. They are in a hat because this town is still being built (I also now have my own high viz vest) and flowers because our first church building won't be one as such but instead will be a community garden and meeting space on the plot where a church will be (hopefully one of at least two in the town)
  

and probably more stuff as well. Cranbrook is an exhilirating and challenging place to be with lots of opportunities to share God's love.
All of which means I haven't had much of a chance to craft but I have a neat little space on the landing outside our bedroom, thanks to Phil.
So far though, all I have managed is a simple thank you card and two Daring cards! I think as life settles into a pattern (or even less of one over the summer) there will be more creative time

Last week I took the Summer Party theme and went for a simple option

party banner. I mixed up new and old for this card. New was the my Favourite Things wonky rectangle die and the Neat and Tangled skinny letter dies. Old was the Nestabilities flag dies and the Echo Park I love sunshine papers. And the black pen.

This week the dare was about Strawberries and Cream
I was inspired by the colours and also decided to try and draw some strawberries myself

The background stamp is by Winnie and Walter and called "Do you see what I see" .  It was embossed with white powder onto watercolour card and painted with Clean Colour markers. I drew some strawberries and coloured them in. You can't really see the little dots and shading on the fruit, nor the sparkle from a Wink of Stella brush, even in close up

but they are there. In order for the strawberries not to melt into the background I used a trick from Debbie of Limedoodle and punched a circle of vellum for the fruit to rest on
I do wish that I had started stamping the sentiment further to the left but tis done now! 
Do have a look at the blog. Bet it makes you hungry!