Enjoying the Journey: cardmaking + pondering

Hola.

I'm not here.

I know I look like I am, and I know you can read these words, which I typed ... but honestly Im not here. It's just an apparition. A hologram. [Oh OK then, it's actually a post I've scheduled in advance .. but you take the point ...] .

What I'm saying is - I'm not at home because I'm on the first of my twice yearly 'crafting-in-a-cottage-with-friends' breaks.

I wouldn't say we go on a 'retreat' ... because that sounds far more restful and serene than what actually happens on one of these weekends. I mean ... a 'retreat' doesn't sound like the kind of place you:

• eat your own bodyweight in cakes;
• descend en masse - locust-like - upon unsuspecting craft shops where you scrutinise every shelf as if you had no supplies to your name;
• and where to take your life in your hands by using a craft knife under the influence of Prosecco.

And we've never once all managed to go on that head-clearing 'brisk walk' we're always threatening to attempt!

So, I thought I'd share an appropriately themed card while I'm off on my travels:

It's a leaving card I made for a friend and colleague who just left his job on campus for a travel-oriented job:

The greeting is from the 'Vintage Aviation' stamp set by Creative Expressions.

The last time I saw him we had lunch with our wonderful mutual friend who regaled us [and anyone else nearby who could hear!] with a hilarious tale of taking her new cat for a walk on a harness ...there was a fence involved ... it was a long and oh-so-funny story.

And since then I've been thinking how your work colleagues are a lot like your family ...


You can't pick them. You don't get to decide who else is employed with you. And, unlike with your friends, you don't get to select them based on your shared hobbies and lifestyles.
Yet fortunately ... sometimes it doesn't matter how different you initially think you all are.

Your ages, your life experiences and your interests may greatly differ ... but somehow you find something in common [for eg. G and I bonded over our shared ignorance of what a tambour unit was ... while B and I are both suckers for waifs and strays] and suddenly you really start to enjoy having them around.

So, here's to good times and good cakes with good friends and colleagues ...

... and to all the good stories you're storing up to remember them by.

Julie x