A fab weekend followed by an incredibly productive Tuesday!

This past weekend was our annual convention. The convention is a 3 day event, held this year at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. The weekend is jam packed with information and reminders, as well as being a chance to catch up with friends we haven't seen since the last convention! Fortunately for us, given the amazing temperatures over the weekend, the roof of the stadium was closed, which kept the temperature a good few degrees lower than it was outside! On Saturday, 39 new brothers and sisters symbolised their dedication by water baptism. This is always a very moving occasion, and it was brilliant to see so many baptized in one go. This year the baptisms were actually held in the stadium, whereas in previous years they've been in a local swimming pool, so most of the 10,000 or so in attendance didn't actually get to see the immersion - there aren't many swimming pools that can cater for those numbers!!
There was a new release - a 192 page book concentrating on the 12 so-called 'Minor Prophets' and what there prophecies mean for us today. I've started reading it, and it promises to be absolutely fascinating. The only downside to the convention was the travelling - it meant being up at 5.30 each morning - not something I'm very good at! However, we all managed it, the kids were brilliant - it always amazes me how well behaved the children are at these events - not just mine, but all of them! They manage to sit quietly and remain well-behaved, despite the heat etc. I really enjoyed the weekend, but it was a shame that our oldest son couldn't be with us because of his health, and neither was our eldest daughter.

Now to the art! The first two cards are for group swaps, and have now been posted to their respective recipients. I don't know if it's because of the weather, or because I had such a fabulous weekend, or perhaps it was a combination of both, but I was definitely in a 'sunny' mood when it came to my card making today! The mauve card is a monthly challenge card. I absolutely love the colours that Liz (who provided this months' packs) chose. I opted for a very simple matted and layered design with added eyelets and organza ribbon.

The ATC's. The first 3 are on the theme 'Vintage Travel' and are really self-explanatory! The next 3 are on the theme 'Beaches'. For two of these, Footprints and Bathing Belles, I used photos of one of our local beaches. The Footprints card is a digital ATC which I then printed onto white card. I used an image of my youngest daughters footprint in the sand, then superimposed the legend 'leave only footprints'. Simple but, I think, effective! The Bathing Belles card uses an image downloaded from the net of 3 young ladies standing outside a bathing machine - why ever did they get rid of those? - superimposed onto a picture of the jetty, again at our local beach. The 3rd of this set is set on a sandpaper background and is a collection of images which remind me of holidays!