Thanks you all for your good wishes for Andrew for his birthday.  He said he had a great day on Wednesday with phone calls from and to England, cards, presents and a nice meal.  Today he’s going out with some friends who are treating him to lunch!

I received some fantastic news too this week.  I’d put myself forward for a Guest DT spot on a favourite Christmas challenge called Bah Humbug, and I heard that I’ve been picked!  They picked a number of people to cover them for each month for the rest of the crafting year, there will be two Guest DT’s each month and I have been assigned the month of October, so a little while to go yet, but I should get my instructions sometime in September.  Very excited about that!

I’ve also received the lovely Stylish Blogger award twice this week too, turning out to be quite the week isn’t it!!  Both Pam and Valerie thought me deserving of this award, so in true blog award style I have to tell you seven things about me and also pass the award on to another seven bloggers too, so here goes:

Seven amazingly random and completely trivial facts about me.

  1. My absolute favourite colour is Green.
  2. I have an ancestor who lived in, and brought up his family, in a cave on Dartmoor.  He was a stone mason and astronomer born in Cornwall in 1703.  Some of the carvings in Linkinhorne Parish Church and most of the headstones in the graveyard were carved by him.  He even carved his own epitaph long before he died which shows a sense of ironic humour:   Here I lie by the churchyard door,  Here I lie because I’m poor, The further in, the more you pay, But here lie I as warm as they!!
  3. In the summer I love to camp, go kayaking (we have our own boats) and go biking with my husband.  Crafting tends to take a bit of a back seat.
  4. I’ve lived in Michigan for over 17 1/2 years, although I’m English and originally from Durham.
  5. I’m car mad!  Used to work for Aston Martin, have only ever worked in the car/automotive industry, own two 38 yr old British classic cars and I’m Chief of Grid at a local race track.
  6. I bite my nails, terrible habit, wish I could stop completely but there’s usually one or two badly bitten nails and a few good ones on each hand!
  7. I love to garden and grow things from seed.  I grow numerous vegetables in the Spring and start most of the seeds myself.  It’s amazing to think that a tiny seed can grow so big and produce so many lovely flowers or vegetables in such a short space of time.

And my list of seven blogs:

Cath In Cyprus – A British ex-pat like me, but she was sensible and chose the sun instead of the snow!!  She also has an amazing studio from where she turns out beautiful works of art.

Harmony Sweetpea – Fairly new to blogging I think and also quite new to all the wonderful gadgets and gizmos needed for card making and scrap booking!  Most of her LO’s are of  her beautiful wedding, and she very recently got a Cuttlebug and has discovered the real power of her credit card!!

Susan – An amazing card maker and a fixer of small toys too!  Susan is also a DT member for Anyone For Anya so be sure to check out her beautiful cards.

Crafty Angel Mandy – Mandy turns out the most breath takingly beautiful, girly and sweet creations.  Have a look at her dress form she posted a couple of days ago.  Even her craft space is pink and wonderful!  She also has DT positions and can be found teaching classes in her native Ireland.

Karen – A fellow WOYWWer, as most of these ladies are, and a true artist often to be found with ink on her fingers and glitter on her face!  I love the things she makes, so different from my “style” if I can call it that.  She loves Susi Blu stamps but she also has a few Penny Black and House Mouse stamps so that makes her ok in my book!!!!

Carola – Another ex-pat.  This time from Germany and living in Northern California.  Carola makes beautiful craft items and teaches classes too, but it’s her stunning photography that absolutely captivates me.  I think she has a wonderful eye and a gift for seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Caroline – I’m seeing a trend here!  Caroline is another ex-pat!! Lol, wonder why I picked them!  She’s from my number one favourite country on earth, Scotland, and lives in my number two favourite country on earth, Turkey.  She is also a great crafter, making cards and scrapbook LO’s, I love all of her heritage and family LO’s she does.  And god willing, her and her husband will be welcoming their own little bundle of joy later this summer.

So that’s my list!  Don’t feel obligated to play along ladies if your don’t have time or have already received this award from someone else!  Just a bit of fun that’s all!