Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Here or There?

Definitely here, because in the end, there's no place like home wherever that may be.  We (or at least my dear husband) drove over 1,000 miles whilst we visited many of our family in England and that didn't include all those extra miles we traveled with family as they showed us points of interest around where they live.



Even given the colder weather, we enjoyed strolling around Stratford upon Avon seeing the birthplace of the bard, William Shakespeare, born on April 23rd 1564.  Then walking past the site of the home where he died on April 23rd (the same date he was born)1616, and finally going on to the Holy Trinity Church where he is buried.    



Stratford upon Avon and England as a whole is rich in a history that we here in Canada don't have the opportunity to see.  Certainly our "touristy" visit around London enabled us to see many historical places such as the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral to name a few.   
It was indeed a wonderful holiday seeing our family along with many parts of England and Wales.  We were happy to meet a new member (since we were there last) of the family, Sonia, as well as meet one of our  newsletter readers from England, Cathy.  Lovely memories.






But now of course it's back to a more normal routine, though I did get the opportunity to craft a little whilst on vacation.  A couple of evenings were spent showing my dear sister in law Gill some Cuttlebug and stamping techniques.  She has such a lovely card making style and no-one around to craft with.  Did I ever show you the beautiful card she made for our 50th anniversary recently?  Using Peel Off stickers and a simple design she created a beautiful card didn't she.





I also had the opportunity to sit under the tutelage of another dear sister in law Diane as she showed me the technique of encaustic art.  What a simple and yet very interesting technique this is, and certainly a much better use of an iron than the more boring one of getting creases out of clothes!

 I was going to show you the beautiful gift that Rachel had made for her cousin Jessica, but don't have photos on hand right now, so you can look forward to seeing that next week.

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Have you ever tried or thought you would like to try the art of embroidery?  I came across this lovely design that would make a great first embroidery piece.  The blogger, Sedef, designed this piece herself for Mother's Day.  She also gives an excellent tutorial to help you achieve the finished result   Here's the link to her blog.




The design could easily be transferred to your fabric by using the Pilot Frixion pen that I mentioned to you a few weeks ago, and which is available at the Craft Nook. We also have a full selection of DMC embroidery floss to choose from, along with embroidery hoops.  Why not give it a try?





:)
Did you hear or perhaps read about the news?  Our talented musicians from Monck Public School won a gold medal at the Canadian National Musicfest in Toronto last week.  Rachel and Jonathan are both part of this band and were away for a couple of days last week as they participated in the Festival, had an opportunity to learn more from the workshops and also had time around Toronto with their fellow musicians. 




And a couple of photos featuring Rachel and Jonathan from when the band was performing recently at the Rene Caisse theater.


Rachel performing her solo accompanied by their dedicated and talented teacher Mrs. Lonsdale. What a driving force she has been this difficult school year not only getting them to the Nationals, but bringing them to the point that they won a gold. 
Hat's off to Karen Lonsdale a teacher of excellence!


And below Jonathan as he performs with the band
















And then last but not least the missing third card that Linda mentioned in the newsletter that she'd had some "technical difficulties" with.
Using a stamp set that has this motor scooter, greeting and flowers in it as well as grass that we didn't use, this was one of  the cards that were created in class .
Note the pearls that started off as white, but were altered using an orange Identipen to suit the card,



Until Later....Happy Crafting

Lilian

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