Ok, so the summers almost over, well school holidays anyway, I still have lots of holiday photos to show you, but I thought we could have a summer giveaway to keep those summery feelings flowing......My holiday has inspired me to get my paints out again...I'm loving all those beachy seaside textures ♥ what I want to know is, what has inspired you most this summer? just leave your inspirations in a comment, for an extra entry, let me know what your favourite item is in my Etsy shop...

The winner who will be picked by my family on.....18th September will recieve a 12th scale miniature dropped ice cream, like the one pictured here on my beach! perfect for a garden or outside scene ☼
so there you go then, can't wait to see your inspirations!

Todays happy thought: A Mother holds her childs hand for a short time, but holds their hearts forever.

Brushing off the sand...

I've still got sand in my shoes & a few mosquito bites, but my holiday in Portugal is well & truly over :( but it was lovely, we stayed in a very luxurious villa with it's own pool so I could get up & have a swim before anyone else got up...it was fab ☼

We stayed in a gorgeous little fishing village in the Algarve called Alvor, my family have been holidaying there for many years although it is fourteen years since I have visited myself, giving up work to look after children tends to have that effect on trips abroad! It filled me with inspiration to create, the harbour, fishing boats, the sea, the food- mmmm the smells of the fresh fish being barbecued outside the restaurant is delicious.....

My eldest daughter & I went out to sea on a boat to look at dolphins, we saw loads she loved it, her face was beaming the whole time ☺


One thing I did learn was that dolhins are fast, not easy to catch on film, the best thing to do is guess were you think they are going to leap & point the camera there, I have got an awful lot of pictures of "where a dolphin just was"! ...please also forgive the ameteurish-ness of the video, I have never used a video camera!











It was so good being that far from the shore, so peaceful, we didn't want to come back in!

Todays happy thought.-Portugal..aaaaah!

Holiday pendants

Hello, this will probably be my last post before I take some holiday ☼ as I will be too busy weighing suitcases frantically, stressing over the clothes bulging on the inside of them & fretting over leaving something behind (or forgetting something)...anyway, I thought I would make myself some holiday inspired pendants...These are to go with some of my lovely new clothes, & to jazz up some of my old ones....I couldn't think of a name for the third one, any suggestions??

Sam ☺