'I'll always be with you' paper cut

I've just been sorting some of my products ready for the 'A Woodland Tale' exhibition at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.  While I was doing this, I realized that I hadn't shown you this paper cut I was commissioned to complete a month (or so!) ago, so thought I would share it with you now!

As I am so busy at the moment, I am not able to blog quite as much as I would like.  If you would like to see more up dates of my work, including work in progress pics, you are quite welcome to join me over on facebook as I do use this more frequently.

Blackberry and Apple Cake

As I have been so rubbish with my blog just recently, I thought I would apologize and share this fabulous cake with you.  We have made it a couple of times this year, and love the fact that we can go collecting blackberries before we make it!  It is a BBC Good Food recipe and I tried to find a link for it but was unable to so I took a photo from the booklet.  

So, get your wellies on (you will need them), and get yourselves out there before the blackberries disappear!

Yum yum!

Creepy Crawlies... insect workshop

 I thought I would share with you a few of the insects that a year 5 group make with me this afternoon in a sculpture workshop.  We used pieces of driftwood, wire and old screws and nails.

 I was really pleased with how it went, and the insects they created were fabulous.  I'm looking forward to next weeks session with another group.

What do you think?

Have your cake... and eat it!

I haven't had much time this summer for baking (which is a good thing because if it's there you eat it!!!), but after catching some of The Great British Bake Off earlier in the week, I thought I would share some of this summers bakes with you.

On went one of my lovely halterneck pinnies, you need a pinny when you are baking, especially if it is with children!

I had a couple of birthday cakes to make.  The Fairy's at the beginning of the summer...

... and The Tinkers at the end!

Sails for the Pirate Galleon, courtesy of my hubby, oh and he did the weapon and pirate positioning too!!!

Baking with the children included this very scrummy apple and blackberry pie, made with blackberries the children had collected.  

And a delicious tart I made with The Fairy to take as a pudding to my mum and dads.

Yum, yum, yum!

Have you made anything good?

Tick tock, tick tock... I'm sure the clock is ticking faster than it should be!!!

I can't believe it is the end of the summer holidays, can you?  One week today, and the children will be back at school and everyone will be settling back into their daily routines... well, not quite for us as we are going to have a sneaky trip to Cornwall at the end of next week for a few days!!!

I feel so out of touch with my blog at the moment, which is a real shame as I do like revisiting my posts as time goes on... it's like a record of what I have been up to... my diary :-).  I post more frequently on my facebook page, so if you would like more frequent updates on what I am up to, please do feel free to pop over and like my page so that you are included in the news feeds.

Soooo, what have I been doing all summer?  Let's have a brief look back.

We started the summer holidays with a trip to stay with my brother and his family.  The weather was glorious while we were there, and most of the pictures are similar to this one.  It was fabulous being able to sit in the garden and watch the children play whilst relaxing and experiencing various 'o'clocks' ('Pimms o'clock', G&T o'clock and 'Wine o'clock'!!!)

We also had a few family days out.  This was Skipton castle, which was okay, but a few too many signs saying we weren't allowed to do things (e.g. stand on the grass which was mown so that it had perfect stripes across it... aghhhh!)

I've also done a bit of paper cutting (more than I thought actually!!)...

 ... a Family Tree Commission (which you can find more details about here)...

... a Baby Name Memory Tree (click here for more details)...

... and a few of my new Wedding Day Memory Trees (these have been really popular and there will be more to share with you once they have been given... click here for more details!)

I also did a little bit of doodling... 

... and shared my 5th wedding anniversary with my hubby.

And then we (me and the children) visited my sister in her New Castle (as the Tinker says), where we had a lovely time with her and the children...

... eating ice-cream...

...having a trip to Whitley Bay to eat fish and chips, before climbing a multitude of steps (with an 8 year old and 3 children under 4!?!?) to the top of St. Mary's lighthouse. 

We also had a trip to a farm to pick some strawberries (they turned out to be the most expensive strawberries we had ever eaten!).

In the evenings when the little monkeys were in bed, we had a good natter whilst drinking wine and doing a spot of sewing (my sisters first sewing project!).

 Fabulous times and ones to be treasured.

Hope you had a good summer too :-).

Giveaway winner - Part 2!!!

As some of you may well know, the person picked from the dusty jar last week didn't claim their prize.  Sooo, I thought I would pick another.  Luckily I still had the names in the jar... and there they will stay until the prize is claimed!!!

The winner is...

... Carol Forbes, please do contact me and claim your prize at loulabelleathome@gmail.com If you would like a reminder of the prizes available click on this link.

I am thinking another giveaway at 650 likes on my facebook page.  The more you lovely people share my page and my work, the quicker I'll get there.  Please help share the love :-)

Giveaway winner

Let me thank you all once again, my lovely facebook 'likers' for your support, your comments spur me on when I'm sat in the clouds (in my workspace in the attic... although I do find my head there quite frequently too!!)

Okay, so here we have it.  The name that was pulled out of this dusty jar was....

Well done Helen :-)  If you would like to message me and let me know what prize you would like I'll get it sorted for you.  You can message me at loulabelleathome@gmail.com.

Everyone else can enjoy 15% off the products in my shop until the end of August using discount code GIVEAWAY0812.  Simply add the code at checkout :-)