Green Knowe

As a child I read the books written by Lucy M Boston about the house of Green Knowe, and found them magical.  Years later when I had my own children I bought the set so they could read them.  However, it was only a few years ago that I discovered that Lucy Boston had lived only a few miles from where I do now, and had based the house and garden in her books on the house she lived in.

This week I finally booked a tour of the Manor House, and we were shown round by the author's daughter in law, Diana Boston, who lives there now.  It brought the magic back to walk through the rooms and gardens where the children in the books had walked, and see the artifacts that appeared in the books!  It was also lovely to see Lucy's own patchwork quilts that she made during her lifetime.

I have scrapbooked some of the photos from the day:

As you can see, the main picture hinges back to reveal the other pages hidden inside, together with a bit of journalling about the visit.

Junk Key: Round 2

I currently have Yolanda's key, which is an Alice in Wonderland theme.  I have added a printed charm of Alice, with a little silver teapot and teacup plus blue and white ribbons (the colour of Alice's dress)

May Calendar Journal

I decided to get this done early, as I will be busy up to the end of the month.  My inspiration was the bunches of May (or Hawthorn) blossom that traditionally start to open on May Day.  I painted the background and added die cut flowers (Tim Holtz Tattered Florals dies)  with stamped centres and stamped leaves around them.  I also added little stamped and coloured bees around the flowers.

Unfortunately they don't look as much like May blossom as I planned, as I couldn't find the watercolour paper I wanted to use.  I'm still happy with how they came out though.