The Olympic flame is getting closer

Many of you have been following the progress of the Olympic flame since it landed in the UK on May 18. I loved seeing the first torch lit when it landed at Lands End and since then it has been literally all over the UK. The promise given was that it would visible to anyone within a 10 minute journey from their home.

Well the flame arrives in my home area on Monday 23 July and to initially I was not sure how near it would come. To our surprise, on a recent walk with my Hb, we noticed these banners had been erected down at my beloved ponds. They are advertising the Olympic Flame journey through our town.

It turns out that the flame will come right up our High Street, cross the ponds and will stop for a celebration outside the  recently restored and  listed  building called Honeywood which is opening again after a £1million restoration programme.
There are several of these banners advertising the route and I thought how picturesque they looked with the ponds and our ancient church and High Street as a back drop.

Above is Honeywood  which has been refurbished with lottery money and has just reopened in all it's former glory. The original part of the house,which is now a tea room, was built in 1779 and the house was extended in 1880 and again in 1902. When we first moved to the area it was in need of a major repair programme and eventually it closed in 2010 for this to be carried out. I am really looking forward to visiting this wonderful house again, I have missed having tea there too. There is a stream which runs right underneath the building and often the ducks and wildlife walk right in front of the building. I understand that the gardens at the back will also be open to the public for the first time.

I have decided that I cannot miss this once in a life time opportunity to see the Olympic flame so I have take time off work and I will walk down to the ponds to try to catch a glimpse of it. I hope to get some photos of that momentous occasion.

Have many of you around the UK also seen the flame? As you know we were lucky enough to get tickets for the diving in the Aquatics Centre. We also managed to get tickets for the Orbitor. This is a lift within the Olympic Park which takes a few people up to a viewing platform high above. I should be able to get some great photos from there. Only a few tickets were available and they have actually arrived in the post.

The days are ticking by now but of course our main celebration of this year, Milly and Tom's Wedding is the day after the Olympic Games Open. The day of the wedding  is the Bike Race and our guests need to avoid travelling down the  Surrey part of the A3. I do hope they leave plenty of time for this!









So I thought my card today should be a Thank you card. I really am so thankful that that we have much to look forward to this summer. I also want to thank all the card challenges that I have won prizes from .  I have even made the Top 3  in several and been awarded an Artist Award on one. Have a look at my winning badges in my side bar. I am thrilled to show them and very grateful to have been given them.

I made this card as a commission and I have used another Saturated Canary stamp, she is actually called "Thank you" so she  is very apt.

Isn't she a cutie. I have coloured her with my Promakers and highlighted her with my Prismacolor pencils.
The backing papers are digi papers I bought on Esty. I have used a pretty blue and pink ribbon and some pearls and gems for highlights. I have also added a little glitter to her. The sentiment is another of the new Lili of the Valley tags...I love these. I have used a pink glitter brad which I won as a prize from one of my card challenges.

Although I am not really a "pink" girl I always love pink and blue as a colour combo.






I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Bearly Mine use ribbon(s) and bow(s)#42
Pretty Little Ribbons #12 Tags
Sir Stampalot What's your craft passion My total crafty passion is colouring stamps. I could happily colour away for ever, I find it a very therapeutic thing to do!
Sassy Cheryl's Challenge Anything Goes #122
Papertake Weekly Anything Goes
Make it Monday Linky Party  #96

I would also like to end this post with a "thank you" to all of you who take the time to visit me here and leave such kind comments. This weekend is Milly's Hen weekend so we are making cocktails at Vodka Revolutions  in London followed by afternoon tea at the Dorcester Hotel, Mayfair and then spending the evening at Ronnie Scott's famous Jazz Club in Soho. It should be such a fun day. Many of my American friends are not aware of the the strange behaviors of us Brits when someone gets married. The groom- to- be goes off for a Stag Party (usually involving a lot of drinking and dressing up!) and the bride- to- be goes off for her Hen Party which tends to be a slightly more sedate affair but still often involves a fair amount of drinking and yes tea does count ;0)
 Just 24 days to go now....

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x