Magnolias, another trip to Russia and more garden blooms

Morning Peeps, I am back with another Guest Design creation which you can also find over at the Chocolate Baroque DT blog and as all of the information and links to the stamps I used are on the DT blog, I won't bore you with all the details again.  

I also have my Penny Black mid month creation which I should have posted yesterday but somehow I got my dates totally muddled........it doesn't take a lot !! And further down a few more photos from the garden as things come into bloom.

These stamps featured in the Hochanda shows at the end of March and all have a strong Russian influence which having visited Russia a few years ago had a very special appeal. All of the new stamps are beautiful and as always were a joy to work with so today's post gave me the perfect opportunity to get some of them inked up again.

My framed canvas features the lovely Katya, Russian Palaces and crackle background (which I added to increase the crackle pain effect). 

Moving onto my Penny Black share I have used old time favourite Dance, Sing, Love along with one of the new releases Magnolia Rhapsody. It's a pretty simple make, stamping first the sentiment with black archival and then using distress markers to ink the stamp and spritzing with water before repeat stamping. Matted and layers and finito. As the pink matting layer has been gutted I think it should fit into the current Snippets Playground.

And as promised more blossoms from the garden, it is never my intention to capture a Lab or at least part of one in almost every photo I take, there just always seems to be one very close by.

There is an absolute profusion of blossom on this apple tree (as well as Daisy underneath), I just hope we don't get the Fen Blows in the near future.......being so flat here in the Fens when there's been a dry spell it doesn't take much wind to whip up the soil and along with it newly seeded fields, young forming fruit and so on and is known as the Fen Blows

Clematis Montana, this is the first of several to come into full bloom although I don't think the blooms are quite as prolific as last year

Choisya Dewitteana Aztec Pearl and the perfume is glorious.......there goes another Lab 'bum'

Apple blossom but no idea of the variety of this one, it's been in many years

Yet another Lab in the scene.......and this is what the Easter Bunny delivered - aka daughter, it's been at a very acceptable 38/40 deg since it was installed. The decking surround still has to be put in place but it's a welcome addition to the secret garden. It's supposed to be for six people but I think that would be a tad cosy, but works nicely with four

Thank you so much for popping in today.