Autumn Arrivals (and some handmade cards).

Autumn is officially here and there is plenty to see out and about the New Forest...and a few things in the garden too! (Apologies for some of the pictures not being in line, Blogger is being naughty today.)

A few nasturtiums survived the caterpillars last year - (see them here).

These pretty pink ones that were from a mixed seed pack...

And my crab apple which I thought was dead when I snapped the top of the tree off. This is the root stock not the graft that was there originally so I am still waiting to see how red they turn.

We put these pretty butterfly buttons to good use on a few extra bracelets for friends.

At Lepe Beach the kite surfers were having lots of fun.

There are all sorts of Autumnal things appearing like horse chestnuts and berries.

At Bolderwood the deer are looking wonderful. There was a huge group of young males all sporting antlers and I hope we get to see them battling later in the year.

Foxgloves (Digitalis).

In a few weeks time all these ferns will be a gorgeous golden display.

Speckled Wood Butterfly.

The girls had lots of fun with some sticks that they found. Big Sparkle declared 'None shall pass!' with hers and Little Sparkle used hers as a broomstick.

There was lots to see on the woodland ground too.

Forest treasures.

I will leave you with pictures of these cards I made, one for a new job and another for a friends birthday.

I hope you are enjoying the change of season where you are.

See you again soon

Amber x x x

End of the Summer

It's been a while since I posted so I have quite a few photos to share. Its starting to feel a bit Autumnal here now and the New Forest is covered with pretty purple heather at the moment. But first a few pictures from Big Sparkles 6th birthday trip to the zoo...

We had to try out Nannys pizza oven so birthday pizzas and cakes were in order!

Big Sparkle had requested a 'My Neighbour Totoro' cake, so here is my attempt. I found these cute rice paper flowers and butterflies to make it extra colourful.

Big Sparkles cousin made these super duper extra yummy (and gluten free for me) cherry, lemon and strawberry cupcakes. They were pretty amazing!

Little Sparkle pinched one of the totoros. I think he got a bit eaten.

Boats at Lepe Beach.

Back home we made some pretty friendship bracelets.

And Big Sparkle learned to ride her bike without the stabilizers! Well done!

For my birthday, my mum took us out for a little trip to Furzey Gardens.
It was really pretty with quaint thatched roof cottages and lots of hidden fairy doors to find.

Oooooo glitters!

All the treasure.

Autumn leaves.

We took the girls out to the New Forest and Hatchetts Pond for a walk to enjoy the heather.

There are also lots of toadstools springing up all over the place.

And we had great fun at Exbury Gardens collecting acorns. We might try and decorate them for Christmas.

Yesterday we had a nice evening walk at Lepe beach. As the season is changing the sun is starting to move across and soon it will set directly over the water.

Evening waves.

I hope you enjoyed all the photos. I am way behind in making a quilt for Big Sparkle so hopefully I can share a few pictures of that with you next time.

See you soon,

Amber x x x