Dreaming of a sun-drenched summer?

The biting temperatures this last week have made it somewhat difficult to focus on making summery driftwood hearts and sunbursts - especially since my 'workshop' is by far and away the coldest room in the house!  I can dream I guess.

We might need a bit more practise on our skimming technique

 But enough grumbling.  I had a fabulous week off over the recent half term and managed to drag the family down to the beach for a couple of hours beach combing.  The pickings were good but, because the sea was so calm, I have to say my 'helpers' were more pre-occupied  with skimming stones than collecting driftwood.  My youngest had the heaviest bag at the end of the trip.  Was it a sizable haul of driftwood?  Was it heck!  It was, in fact, a bag full of interesting stones and sea-washed bricks - it weighed a ton!  Nevertheless, it has been brought back home and duly washed and scrubbed along with the rest of our booty.  It was a surprisingly decent lot of driftwood and has taken over a week to dry - principally in the winter sun and then finished off over the radiator indoors. 

Today, I have finally got down to creating!  I have a couple of large driftwood hearts in progress and two new sets of decoupage bunting plus a sumptuous, scrumptious, star made with some leftover leaf and petal paper that is so gorgeous I want to keep touching and stroking it!  Wrong?  Probably...  But, I digress, my day has been good and just as well since this next week is written off to the preparation of all things birthday for my youngest's 5th.  So it is down with the wood, glue, paper and brushes and up with the flour, eggs and sugar.  Princess cake and balloons are my life for the next 6 days.  Wish me luck!