Right up my street, or rather my woodland path!

One of the joys of living where I do is the abundance of local wildlife, which I love to see. So it should come as no surprise to learn that this month's challenge theme at Stamping Sensations is one of my favourites! We would like to see your creations filled with

* * * * * FOREST FRIENDS * * * * *

Lots of lovely creatures to choose from, but your Forest Friend/s must be the main image of your project and must be stamped (hand stamped or hand coloured digi) if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of our  fab prizes. Our sponsor for March is Tattered Lace, and here's what our lucky winner will receive! Beautiful ribbons, a storage box to keep them in, a bow maker and an inspiration book!

 I decided to make an easel card to showcase my forest friends.

I used paper masks and ink dusters to create the landscape background. The trees, leaves and creatures were stamped individually on a separate piece of card, coloured with Zig Clean Color pens and cut out. The components for the easel card were cut with stitched circle dies by The Works and then assembled. The base was covered with a gorgeous leaf print paper by Bee Crafty, and finally the creatures, leaves and sentiment were added. All stamps by Hobby Art.

The creatures depicted on my card are all to be found in the woods and fields around here, but in fact we have seen all of them on occasion without even having to leave the house! I do tend to spend quite a lot of time by the window with my camera! I could have added otter, stoat, rabbit, owl, mouse, hare and vole to my picture too, but there wasn't enough room!

I am so looking forward to seeing this month's entries! My lovely teamies have got some gorgeous examples for you over on the Challenge Blog, with oodles of the aww factor! Do go and have a look, and remember you can enter up to 3 projects. Hope you can join in, and good luck!

Snow!

We tend not to get much snow here. In the six years we've lived here, I could count on one hand the number of significant snowfalls we've had, none of which lasted for very long. This winter is definitely making up for the rest, though! More snow than I can remember for a long time.

The sight that greeted us when we looked out across the field this morning was quite amazing. The gale force wind was blowing the snow over the hill and it looked like water flowing over a weir. One day a waterfall of snowdrops (these are in the garden next door!) ....

.... the next a waterfall of snow! (Best viewed full screen to see the effect.)

Just thought I'd also upload a few photos from the last couple of days, mostly taken through the window! So glad I didn't have to go out in it! I daresay the sheep are used to being outdoors in all weathers, but I do feel sorry for them. The birds have certainly been taking advantage of our feeders, which we are having to top up every day.

"And as I was just saying to Mrs Sparrow...."

Can't remember the last time we had icicles!

So cold, the river froze at the edges

But it looked lovely when the sun shone

Mind your head!

It's been an interesting few days, but if the weather would get a bit warmer and drier very soon I'd be most grateful!