More shades of Autumn - a few photos

 On our last day of our short break in Wales we went to Pistyll Rhaeadr, the highest single drop waterfall in Britain. We parked by the Tea rooms at the bottom and climbed the steep path to the top of the falls. It doesn't take too long, bit I was glad of my monopod /walking pole as it was quite slippery in places. I chose three photos from the walk and have put them in order of my own preference. I love the contrasts on this first one.

 The second is the view of the Waterfall from the other side of the valley. I stood just to the right of where the water falls from.

This is looking in the other direction down the Valley. The bracken definitely makes the grass look greener.

 Now I don't post many photos of me, but as someone who really doesn't like heights I was very proud of myself standing upright just there! That water to my left is the edge of the waterfall.

                                
                    
Thanks for looking!

May at Stamping Sensations

Good Morning! It is the first Sunday of the Month and time for a new Challenge over at Stamping Sensations! This month's theme is.....

***Butterflies, Fairies and Fantasy*** 

As the title suggests we want to see your projects with one of these items as a MAIN FEATURE. The perfect opportunity to ink up all those butterflies, fairies and other magical images, the choice is up to you but we do need to see something stamped and associated with the theme focally on your artwork.......a small punched or die cut Butterfly will not suffice. Conventional rubber/acrylic stamps and digital images are acceptable, but pre-coloured digital images and toppers are not. And please note: if we do not comment on your entry it will be because it does not follow the theme, qualify under our rules, or because we are asked to sign in or provide additional data to comment. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.
 For my card I created a distress oxide background (smooshing technique), then stamped with the Bigz Butterfly 1 from Inkylicious in versafine black, embossing in clear embossing powder. I added glossy accents over the butterfly to give some dimension and it helped to highlight the colours too. I used a grey pencil rayon aroundthe betterfly to gibe the impression of a shadow. My verdict on distress oxides? I NEED all the colours!!!
What is the prize I hear you ask? Feast your eyes on this lovely lot! 

I wish I could enter!  

Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the fantastic creations by my lovely teamies. There is some wonderful inspiration again this month! Hope you get the chance to join in and I'll look forward to seeing all your lovely creations!  
Before I go I want to share some photos from Last Sunday's walk at Whyming Brook Nature reserve, a 20 minute drive from Sheffield. It really is a most beautiful place...

Thanks for looking! 

A few photos

We had a lovely walk today around a relatively new RSPB reserve in Notts - Langford Lowfields. It was quite breezy and cloudy at times, but we  really enjoyed it. Here are a few photos...

 I always called this flower Lady's smock, but it is also known as Cuckoo Flower.

 A great crested grebe

 Greylag geese

 I love the reeds against the water...

 There were hundreds of cowslips

 lovely reflections when the wind dropped

A male reed bunting making the most at one of the bird feeders
Thanks for looking!

Moonlight, Willow trees and a walk

Since I got my Inkylicious Moonscape stamp and mask I have been playing with it quite a lot! For this scene I used memento inks in Elderberry, Lulu lavender and Cantaloupe. I stamped the moon in lulu lavender then masked it and dusted the cantaloupe ink over the area. I then continued to dust with the lulu lavender and the elderberry ink. After removing the mask, I dusted the moon lightly with lavender and cantaloupe ink in a circular motion, giving it a pink tinge. I added the hills with a mountain valley stencil and stamped the willow trees (also from inkylicious) in Elderberry ink. Finally I added spots of clear stardust gelly roll pen to the trees and their roots and stamped the birds. This was such an easy card to make and I am very pleased with the result.
Before I go I will share a few photos. Meg came home for a few days and we went for a walk in Derbyshire - the Tansley and Matlock area. There was beautiful sunshine and lovely scenery along the Lumsdale Valley.
Here are a few photos...

Stamping Sensations Challenge for March

Good Morning! It is the first Sunday of the Month and time for a new Challenge over at Stamping Sensations! This month's theme is...........

***Close to Nature***

As the title suggests we want to see your projects inspired by the natural world this month..........

 I feel closest to nature when I am out walking in the countryside, so I am sharing the card I made for my Dad's birthday with Hobby Art Stamps (Country Ramble Scene-it set). I water-coloured it with a mixture of Zig clean color markers and aqua markers.

Please can I remind you we are a stamping challenge so must see a stamped image, sentiment or quote as the focal element of your artwork. Conventional rubber/acrylic stamps and digital images are acceptable, but pre-coloured digital images and toppers are not. And please note: if we do not comment on your entry it will be because it does not follow the theme, qualify under our rules, or because we are asked to sign in or provide additional data to comment. We do not want to be rude but we do want to be fair to those who do follow the rules.

 Here is the fabulous prize this month.....



                       
I wish I could enter myself!
Do pop over to the challenge blog and take a look at all the fantastic creations by my lovely teamies. There is some wonderful inspiration again this month! Hope you get the chance to join in and I'll look forward to seeing all your lovely creations!  
Before I go I want to share a photo with you. Last Tuesday I got my accreditation to be a Karate Sensei for GKR! I'm still pinching myself 😀😀😀

Thanks for looking!

Cats from Dora

Here is my latest DT offering for Dora's Digis which are here on her blog. I coloured them with Be Creative Alcohol markers. The background paper was in my stash and the bow and tag are die cuts. Although the image was drawn with Valentine's day in mind, I am using this as a wedding anniversary card for my nephew and his wife.
I'm entering this into the challenge at Allsorts this week where the theme is 'anything goes'. Short and sweet from me this week as I am back to work tomorrow and we have spent the day out in Derbyshire with Meg and her boyfriend, Grant. We blew the cobwebs out on Curbar Edge and had a lovely meal in Baslow.

Thanks for looking!

A taste of Pembrokeshire

We spent a couple of weeks in Pembrokeshire once I had finished at school. Meg came with us and we all enjoyed the fresh air and exercise! The first week we were near the North Pembrokeshire coast not far from Newport. We walked about 8 miles of the coastal path between Newport and Dinas Head.
Here are a few photos...

As you can see it was a beautiful day!
Our second week was on the Marloes peninsula and we had fairly good weather for most of the week.  Here are some more views...

Hope you enjoyed dipping your toes in with me! I'll show you some more photos another day. Before I go, if any of you can help me with some Welsh pronunciation I'd appreciate it: the place name Eglwyswrw... it is the last three letters that are causing me puzzlement!
Thanks for looking!

A card, a walk and a milestone!

 I hope you are all well and enjoying the warm weather! I can't believe the difference from a week ago! I am sharing a card I made using an indigo blu stamp and distress inks in fossilised amber and abandoned coral. I am taking this to Miss Di's playground, as I every bit of card I used except the base card was snippets. The stamp was one of four bought for me by a good friend for my (50th shhhh!) birthday last week. We started the celebrations last weekend with a lovely walk around Langsett Reservoir...

 and ended up as Banks End Cafe for lunch and a pudding (Jam roly poly and custard was just the ticket, lol)! At the time there was still snow on the hills and we wrapped up warm. Don't you just love their polka dot wall?

 My celebrations continued with a visit to a craft shop, another tea room and my Karate grading this weekend. I may be doing a pretty good impression of a beetroot, but I was awarded my first Kyu (brown belt with two black tags). The next time I grade it will be for black belt. I also got a lovely surprise as Meg and her boyfriend, Grant came down from Sheffield to support me. Here I am below with Sensei Alex, Meg and Sensei Richard

 The guy on the left here is Sensei Karl, who is the Area Sensei, and Sensei Richard is from my Dojo. I think they find the height difference amusing too! Everyone here has played a huge part in my karate journey and I really appreciate their help and support over the years.

Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments.