Recently, at work, we had the bright idea of recycling old Ladybird books to make note books. We had a lot of fun making them but we were left with a lot of lovely illustrated pages.
Then I remembered that Lynsey of Swirlyarts makes recycled envelopes and gift tags so it made sense to send them to her to make use of. I got a lovely surprise when I received one of her large hand made envelopes packed full of small recycled envelopes and gift tags. The illustrations are from The Lives of The Composers.
So thank you Lynsey for the wonderful gift. If you would like to find our more about Swirlyarts visit her on Folksy and Etsy.
I got fed up with how expensive gift boxes for jewellery had become so now I always make my own for craft fairs. I use origami paper or stiff gift wrap for the lids, the bases I make from magazine pages.
These boxes were made from Beatles album covers gift wrap. The paper makes the ideal boxes for cufflinks and are fun to make too. The great thing about using patterned paper is that each box comes out with a different design. Plain paper boxes are rather tedious to make.
Each box has a small square of wadding in it to stop the cufflinks from rolling around. These boxes were made from a 15.5cm square piece of paper. To make the base fit use 15cm square of paper for the base.
I learned to make these boxes by following a short film on You Tube (see below). These boxes won't survive in the post unless they are placed inside a cardboard box but they are great to use at craft fairs.
2pm on a Friday comes around and I'm free from work! Yippee! I zip straight home, grab the dog lead, jump in the car and we both head for the hills....
One of our favourite walks is on Addingham Moorside, although we only do this once a week as it is rather strenuous.
The first part of the walk, up to Silsden Nab, is the steepest. It's good to get the worst part out of the way.
View of Silsden from the Nab with Cowling Pinnacle in the background.
Hurry up!
Walking along the path toward Addingham.
View of the wind turbines at Chelker Reservoir in the distance.
Beamsley Beacon with Addingham village in the middle distance
Turn right over the wall and start the final ascent to the bench on the top.
The footpath.
The bench is on the far right of the picture.
Here it is, at last!
Riddlesden Moor stretches out behind. To the left is Ilkley Moor, roughly 3 - 4 miles of walking (but not today)!
Interesting! What have we here?
Well fancy that! It's a stick.....
Looking down on the valley below. It's a shame that blogger doesn't have smell-o-vision because the heather is in full flower and everything smells dry. It's also a shame there isn't any sound - you can hear the curlews from here.
Thom bought this super-cool bag for college from Top Man and I really love it. It's a reproduction of an original design. You can almost see the tennis rackets sticking out of it! (Squint your eyes and use your imagination).
So, last bank holiday Monday we decided to take a walk up Pen-y-ghent, one of the three peaks. It overlooks the small village of Horton in Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales.
The weather wasn't too bad for the last day of August in the UK (it was dull but warm) and, once we had started the walk the cloud over the crag lifted. It's a shallow uphill climb for the first couple of miles.
We stopped at a bank of scree for a chocolate break - I insisted - and looked down on Hull Pot (the one filled with water).
View across the valley with Horton in Ribblesdale in the distance.
The climb got steeper toward the top and the guide books said it was a "short sprint to the top". Ha ha! I wasn't sprinting, I can tell you.
Jackson sit! Sit I say! Stay still for the camera! Oh never mind....
The views from the top are spectacular although it is very windy up there. Fortunately, there is a sheltered bench to sit on. Other people were there eating their sandwiches - much to Jackson's delight. A dribbling dog is not attractive!
The descent is much quicker and steeper. Jackson hopped from rock to rock but my Sister-in-law's little dog panicked and had to be helped down by a kindly stranger. Everyone else leapt around like mountain goats leaving me to plod my way down. Not impressed!
At the bottom it began to rain that diagonal sleety Yorkshire rain. I had brought a hat and waterproof clothing (unlike some people) and had a change of clothes waiting in the car. Typical me, though, I fell over in the mud in front of a group of people.
Well, that was five and a half miles and is the least strenuous of the three peaks. I'm looking forward to climbing up Great Whernside and Ingleborough next, although I could never do all three in one day. We adjourned to the pub for some cheer and I fell asleep over my drink.
I'm in love with these fabulous red shoes! They are absolutely wonderful.... buy me these shoes because I want to be buried in them. They are hand made and available from Suzhou Cobblers.
It's not too early to get them. I commissioned Natalie from Mung Beans to make me a set of momiji christmas decorations for Christmas 2009 and here they are. Each one has been carefully made with great attention to detail. Now, if I put them away I MUST remember where they are in December!
