IT'S THAT COMPLETELY STARK RAVING BONKERS TIME OF YEAR

Hello everyone

I bet the title of this blog post sums up how many of you are feeling?  I know Christmas only happens once a year and I know it only lasts for a short period of time, but I also know the whole world goes potty at this time of year and shops as if the world is about to end (or the supermarkets are closing down for good).  Trying to keep on top of everything is almost impossible and if one more person asks me if I have finished my Christmas shopping yet, I will not be responsible for my actions!  Despite organising craft & gift events and about to take part in some, I have to admit to not having bought any presents yet.  It gets harder each year to know what to give people that is different from what I gave them last year, finding something they will like and something that doesn't require a second mortgage to buy (or make) it.

I hoisted the Godalming Bazaar banner outside of the Borough Hall for the last event of this year, stood back to check all was okay only to see that the date I had put on said 6 December 2015!  I am taking bookings for next year, but think my banner advertising is a little premature.  

Over the next two weeks I have two events I am organising/managing and three events I am taking part in - one is a two-day fair.  My last event takes place on 14 December and my plan for the following day is to sleep for 24 hours or do I mean days?

I dropped into the Normandy Scouts Christmas Fair this afternoon - very busy and clearly very well supported by mums, dads, sisters, brothers and other relatives.  A wide variety of items for sale: cakes, cards, fruit, vegetables, jewellery, etc.   My cake-making friend was taking part and her cheese scones looked very tempting.

Back to work now, more bags to decorate, more wreaths to make and if time permits, scented candles to make too.  I made the following wreath yesterday and although the ribbon is dark green, it seems to have taken on the blue colour of the butterflies when photographed, and also when viewed in natural light.  Very unusual.

I am joining up with Handmade Monday this week and look forward to seeing how the crafting bloggers are doing with their Christmas work.  I must try to get back into the blogging habit - I do enjoy it, but it does seem to make its way frequently to the bottom of the To-Do's that are in my head.  

Have a good week everyone - if you live in or near to Godalming, it would be lovely to see you at the Bazaar next Saturday and don't forget this is Small Business Saturday, so a great opportunity to support lots of local small businesses.

Jill

BYE BYE SUMMER

Hello everyone

With the clocks going backwards, it really does feel like winter now - such a long time to spring.  I understand we are going to have some nice weather over the next few days with unusually high temperatures for this time of year, so all is not yet lost.

How has your week been?  I know for all small businesses, particularly those of us in the world of handmade, this time of year is really hectic.  It's that time of  'I can leave that for a few days' and then realise that was not the best decision to have made.  It's a time when two (or more?) pairs of hands would be good, as well as 48-hour days and, of course, not having anything else to do other than create.

I have split my time this week between event organisation and making stock for my forthcoming events.  Really could have done with one or two 48-hour days or preferably two pairs of hands.

Here is one of my completed wreaths.  It has 11 metres of burgundy-coloured velvet ribbon wrapped the polystyrene ring and a gorgeous glittery peacock fixed to the bottom.  I am not too sure whether (and what) to add to the wreath or just leave it with the peacock adorning it.  I am happy as it it, but do wonder if it is a little bare.

On the event organisation side of my life, I have an Early Christmas Bazaar taking place in the Tongham Village Hall on 1 November and this coming week will see me out delivering flyers, putting up posters and banners and hoping the weather stays good until after next Saturday.  This is anew venue for me, so am anxious about it being successful.  I am always anxious about any of the events I organise, but a new place brings with it new challenges and they are often very ahrd to manage.  I tell myself it is all part of life's rich pattern (although the pattern is sometimes not my choice).

A short post this week as it is back to work and finishing off some more wreaths.  I hope you all have a good week and don't forget to drop in on my fellow crafting bloggers taking part in this week's Handmade Monday.

FOUR DOWN, FOUR TO GO

Hello everyone

Yet again, another month has disappeared since my last blog post.  Do you find that the days and weeks whizz by at this time of year?  I just feel this autumnal/winter-like weather has come a little too soon for me and I just want the warm weather to return as soon as possible.

In my time 'away' from blogging I have been on holiday (or rather we have been on holiday) to Malta, another of my Godalming Bazaar events took place on 4 October and I took part in a Wedding Fayre at the Frensham Pond Hotel yesterday.  Our holiday was lovely, very hot and humid but also very relaxing - for most of the time.  It did involve work for me as I took my laptop and various other bits and pieces so that I could keep on top of the event organisations side of my business - my latest event took place two days after we got home (not good planning on my part).  Here are a few photographs from our holiday:

The view from our apartment balcony.  The temperature every day was around 30 degrees, sometimes 34.  Humidity was also very high and this often created a misty appearance.

We visited Gozo, which is a small island off the coats of Malta.  Interestingly, it is much greener than Malta.  I was lucky to find some of my favourite animals, cats and these ones were supported by the local animal charity.

Back home and the weather here wasn’t so good and in fact on the day of the last Godalming Bazaar event, it tipped down until about 30 minutes before closing time.  Despite the weather, we had 354 people through the door.  Some may feel this is not brilliant, but the majority of you who are involved on either side of craft events, know that visitor numbers are often disappointing and I know that the venue I am using does not attract a big footfall for similar type events.  

The results of the day were that some stallholders did very well, some didn’t and some did better this time than last time – the life of a crafter at craft events is an interesting one.  There was plenty going on throughout the day: we had You Ukes playing from late morning to the end of the event, two lots of crafty make-and-take workshops and a face-painter.  Plenty to draw people in, and as the weather was poor, our refreshments people did a roaring trade.  

Here are some photographs of the event taken by Dawn Hart of Stonepit Crafts - thank you Dawn:

As the title of my post says, four down, four to go.  I have four more events that I have organised for this year and it's now on to the next one which takes on 1 November at the Tongham Village Hall.   Tongham is a village not far from me, it has a few shops and well supported activities take place in both the village hall and the community centre.  Fingers crossed this event does well for everyone involved.  The next Godalming Bazaar event is on 22 November - a Christmassy themed one I feel.

And finally......  Yesterday I took part in a wedding fayre at the Frensham Pond Hotel.  We had a steady flow of visitors and it was very successful for me.  I have to prepare 8 quotes for stationery ranging from just invitations to a full range of stationery.  I hope they all turn into confirmed orders - lucky for me they are spread throughout 2015 and 2016 so I will have time to work on them.  The most popular design was a simple one with a scroll at the top and a ribbon across the middle.  Here are a few pics from yesterday:

My lovely new pop-up banner.  The company I now use for my banners and flyers produce double-side pop-up banners.  Great if you are placed where visitors are walking by on both sides (back and front) of your stand.  I need to order one for the Christmas Pie Crafts part of my business, so might go for a double-sided one.

The scroll range of stationery.

I decided to go for a heavy weight A6 flyer rather than a business card - I feel it catches the eye of visitors to the stand more than a business card will.

Purple is still very popular.

One last finally...  I have two new foster kittens, both girls - one is tabby and white and I have named her Ruby and the other one is black and white and I have named her Pearl.  They are only 9-weeks old.  Milly has said she will add some photogrpahs of them to her blog post on Wednessday.

I am off to join up with the Handmade Monday bloggers - I have missed them recently and looking forward to seeing what they have been up to since my last visits to their blogs.

I will, hopefully, be back next weekend with some more bloggy news - have a good week everyone.

Jill

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Hello everyone

Long time, no write.  I think I should write a blog post about the all the excuses I can come up with about not writing a blog post.  I did promise myself that no matter what I would write a post every week, but this year that promise has gone to pot!  Despite, as always, having plenty to say, because I join in with the Handmade Monday gang I feel guilty at not having any makes to show and share.  As time is whizzing by since my last post, I thought 'hey, join in anyway'.

What have I been doing since my last post?  In between the usual million and one things we all get bogged down with, earlier this year I applied to take part in the Farnham Maltings Christmas Fair, sent off my paperwork with photographs of my work and as you can imagine, the next few weeks were 'will I, won't I' times.  I was so pleased to receive an email telling me 'you have been successful'.  It is a two-day event, used to be just one-day, and so many people have said it is hard to get into, so you can imagine I am extra pleased.  Need to get on with making stock now - can;t make excuses for not doing that.

My latest Godalming Bazaar event took place on Saturday, 6 September.  From an organisation point of view I felt it was successful in that there was plenty going on at the event (craft workshops, wildlife charity, Town Crier and great refreshments) and we had a fantastic 512 customers through the door (compared with 247 visitors at the last Godalming Bazaar event).  Those of you involved with craft events, on both sides of the stalls, know getting customers through the door is hard work and getting them to stay and buy is even harder.  Of course there were moans - not everyone was pleased, not everyone did well, but it is very hard trying to please everyone and I am sure one day I will realise that it is a pretty impossible task to do that, but for the time being I shall continue to try to achieve the impossible.  I have had some great feedback from customers: very impressed with the variety and quality of work at the event, liked that there were not too many stalls selling similar items, great to have make-and-take sessions, first experience of a craft fair and pleasantly surprised, and definitely going to come along to the next one.

On to the next one which takes place on 4 October.  I have arranged two make-and-take craft workshops (I use two halls at the Godalming Borough Hall so one in each will be a great attraction), a face-painter, one of the stallholders is offering Henna Tattoos, another is giving Reiki and Indian Head Massage tasters. Plenty to interest and encourage people to spend time at the event and buy from a fabulous range of handmade items.  Oh, nearly forgot also have You-Ukes joining us between 1.00 pm - 3.00 pm.  Will I please everyone?  No, of course not, but it's great fun (and flippin' hard work) along the way.

Several foster kittens have passed through our home recently and gone on to fabulous new homes.  We are kitten-less at the moment, but there are plenty more out there waiting to be taken in, looked after and re-homed.  It does get a little easier parting with them, and I know they are going to good homes, but if I had a much bigger place.........

That's me more or less up-to-date and this week I will be catching up with my fellow crafters taking part in Handmade Monday - I bet there will be lots of Christmas-themed makes to have a look at.  There seems to be lots of new crafters joining in, so it will be nice to see what they all make.

Have a great week everyone, looks like we are going to have some more sunny days.

Jill

IT'S HOT, HOT, HOT

Hello everyone

Do you get the feeling we are never satisfied in the UK when it comes to the weather?  It rains - we moan; it snows - we moan; it's hot - we moan.  I know it's a great topic, but while we are moaning think how lucky we are to have changing seasons.  At least we know we will have different weather - even if it sometimes
happens all in one day and we can go through at least two changes of wardrobe.

It is, as seems to be the norm this year, hectic at Christmas Pie Crafts.  Planning new makes for the Christmas market.  Thinking what can I do as an alternative to the Secretts Christmas Fair and Emporium that runs (or ran) for the month afterwards.  Sadly, it is not taking place this year as the owners have decided not to run it any more.  I don't understand their decision, it must have been a financial success for them: both by marquee space hire and the increased number of customers they had in the farm shop.  Their decision is a big disappointment for me and the other regular stallholders.  I really enjoy a 2 or 3-day event (it is so nice being able to walk away on days 1 and 2 without having to pack-up) and I have been looking into others.  However, the two or three that are interesting are at least an 80-mile round trip for me and with a finishing time for some of 8.00 pm (coupled with an onsite time of, at the latest, 8.00 am) I don't think I want to take that on - not with everything else I would be juggling at the same time.  So, back to the drawing board and if not for this year, then definitely for next year.  Perhaps I should organise my own 3-day event.

Trying to think of everything else I have been doing since my last blog post and have to resort to my diary - must be an age thing, if I don't write it down it's gone for ever.  Just completed a  battle with TravelZoo (TZ) and Experify; 3 friends and I bought one of TZ's deals that provided us with vouchers for a River Thames cruise (which was really lovely) and a meal at the Altitude Restaurant.  Sadly when got to the restaurant they knew nothing about us and had declined over six months ago to be part of the TZ deal.  Because it was gone 9.00 pm and we were starving, we had our meal but had to pay for it (again).  Emails and telephone calls were getting us nowhere, so I resorted to Social Media - the response and resolution of the problem was pretty quick and a refund was received this week.  I didn't like having to resort to naming and shaming, but having waited over 2 months for the money to be refunded, it seemed to be the only way to get something done.

My pottery sessions having now finished until September, but lucky for us, our tutor has organised a one-day workshop in her studio to take place mid-August - she will be sending out suggestions of what we can make, so I am looking forward to that.  I have been busy with my Hat Family and here they are so far:

Jackie O type sunglasses and a large brimmed black and white hat

I mucked up the lips on this one, so bought some bright red paint and she now sports luscious red lips

My original Mr Hat man

What do I have planned for this coming week?  I have recently begun renting storage space very local to me and having carried out quite a bit of research, it is much cheaper than the other places I have looked at.  Supplies and makes are getting a bit too much here and it was either move Richard into storage or my 'stuff'.  Hard decision, but it is easier to store my stuff than it is to store Richard, he would need to be let out every day!  This week will see more stuff being moved from our home to what could have been Richard's summer-home - oh well......

I am organising another event at the Fairlands community Hall - this is a Christmas one, is in a popular residential area and the venue is in regular use by residents of the area.  Always lots going on, lots of publicity about the venue and its activities so I am hopeful of a good foot fall for this one.  It takes place on 13 December so if you are nearby come along and see me.  I am also looking into arranging some other sorts of events, so lots on at the moment.

My good news of the week is that my two lovely foster kittens, Sage and Angelica, were adopted yesterday.  They have been with me for a long time and will be off to their new home next week.  Here is a lovely pic of them (Angelica is the one sticking her tongue out):

I think that is me pretty much up-to-date, I am re-joining the Handmade Monday crowd this week.  I feel very guilty about not blogging regularly, not visiting other crafters' blogs and generally getting behind with everything.  Busy times as I have changed my website hosts - I was with Vistaprint and spent so little time on the websites, that I decided a complete change was needed.  I have gone with Wix, bought domain names (which I couldn't before as the ones I wanted were not available through Vistaprint) and I am currently working on my new Christmas Pie Crafts website (details next week) and also a new one for Surrey Independent Markets, my event hat business (details of that one next week too).

That is definitely me up-to-date!  Have a great week everyone, let's hope the sun stays out but the temperature drops a little and it rains at night to save watering the garden.

Jill

THE SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY LATE POST

Hi everyone

I can't believe that it is nearly three weeks since my last blog post - well I can because I have just checked the date of the last one which talks about getting back to normal with blog posting.  Rather embarrassing.

The last few weeks have whizzed by and although I seem to have been non-stop busy, looking back not too sure what I have actually achieved.  What's even more embarrassing I had to check my diary to see what I have been up to.

Looking back through my diary I see the last three weeks has been a mix of card order completing, flyer designing, event promotion, stallholder recruitment, celebrating friends' birthdays, pottery sessions, kitten fostering, kitten homing.  These activities have been sprinkled with trips to the dentist!  Certainly not my favourite activity.

I carried out my first solo kitten-homing on Saturday - it may not sound a big deal but it is a big responsibility to ensure everything that the new owner needs to be aware of has been discussed, forms completed and the kitten settled in.  It went well and I am happy to say Lola has settled in really well and I will be able to see her as she grows up because she has moved less than five-minutes walk from where I live.

I managed to get Facebook agreement to merge the Godalming Independent Market with the new Godalming Bazaar page; very pleased about this as it took just over 500 of the existing 'likes' with it.  I have designed/had delivered t-shirts for the supporters to wear on the day of the event; new banners have been produced and advertising is now in local magazines and online.  I have designed a new logo for the Godalming Bazaar and that is now attached to all Facebook postings, all tweets and other documentation.  However, I completely forgot to include it in the t-shirts and on the new banners!

I use two rooms in the Godalming Borough Hall for the events, and had decided a while ago that I would use the smaller of the two as a Food court.  This will accommodate the refreshments people (trying to sort this out for the next event and it seems to be taking a long time) and I have invited lots of local food/drink growers/producers to have a stall - I am disappointed at the lack of responses, even to say now would be nice.  Is it too much to ask for a return phone call or email?  I will keep on trying to get local foodies to take part and so far have two - not a lot, but a good start.  However, if there are any local growers/producers out there in Blog-land who would like to take part in the Godalming Bazaar on 7 June, please get in touch.

Hopefully I am back into the swing of blogging and promise my next post will not be after a gap of 3 weeks and I must visit the other Handmade Monday bloggers - another embarrassing moment as I haven't been to see them recently.

Have a great week everyone - I hope you are all able to enjoy this fabulous weather.

Jill

RELAXATION TIME

Hello everyone

Another beautiful sunny day - how lucky we are to have them at this time of year.  Hope the Easter weekend is good as we have family with us on one day and spending the day with friends on another.  Around this we will be putting up a new shed and planting, planting, planting.

I have done very little work this week, apart from a million and one emails and spreadsheet work.  I want someone to tell me how we existed before emails and if our internet connection goes down, which sometimes it does, I worry because I am out of communication with the rest of the world?  The telephone almost seems defunct because of emails and text messages.  Letters?  Good grief, what are they?  Isn't it odd how something that seems rather unusual when first introduced becomes something we cannot exist without?

Many years ago I remember thinking that 5.25" floppy discs would never, ever be replaced by its 3.5" relative.  Now?  Who knows what the next type of computer storage will be.  Look how small and light computers themselves have become.  If someone had told me when I first began using them (and they took up a whole room for storage and the equipment then) that one day I would use a computer that would easily fit into my handbag, I do think I would have thought they had escaped from somewhere.

This coming week means back to working on future events, makes for those events and catching up on everything else that got left behind last week.  No photographs of makes this week, but I am sure you will love the following two pics of my current foster kittens: Nancy the long-haired kitten (she has a tiny black spot under her chin which you can just about see in the photograph) and Nellie the short-haired one.  They will be nine-weeks-old on Tuesday and are absolutely gorgeous.  I hope they get a new home soon, although it is always hard to part with the kittens I foster.

Have a great week everyone and I hope you have a lovely Easter too.  Don't forget to drop in on the Handmade Monday bloggers to see what they have been doing this week.

Jill

AFTER THE BALL WAS OVER

Hello everyone

It almost goes without saying that last week was hectic.  I had left Friday fairly clear to do some last minute leaflet dropping, produce some directional signs and check I had everything packed and ready, then disaster struck!  The people running the pop-up vintage tearoom cancelled due to illness!  I spent most of the day trying to book an alternative, crazy really because if someone was free was that good sign or bad?  However, friends came up trumps and stepped in to save the day.

Thank you Dawn for locating and delivering a water boiler and flasks and thank you Linda for manning the tea table all day.  It was hard work getting everything sourced, bought and set-up and this was in addition to Dawn having a stand at the event.  We had a much reduced refreshment area, but we did it and it was very much appreciated by the stallholders and customers.

As they say on the television, the day of the event dawned bright and clear - well eventually it did because it was still pitch black when I was up and out putting up the 'today' banners.  I made my way to the venue and put up some bunting and balloons:

We set-up the hall, welcomed the stallholders in and while they were setting up I began to feel I should have changed my name just before I opened the doors.  One the whole the setting up went without too many hiccups.  Doors opened for customers, balloon man on the front door, face-painter in position, everyone ready to sell, refreshments set up and ready to pour.  The customers came in waves - slow waves and bigger waves.  The Mayor and Mayoress of Godalming were lovely and spent a long time with us - they visited all of the stands and spoke to stallholders and customers; the Mayor had some face-painting on his hand and they both had some coffee and cake with their daughter.

As with all events of this type, some stallholders did very well, some not so well, the odd moan and groan

was heard, but in the main the stallholders were brilliant.  Feedback has been positive and very supportive - lots of good ideas, some already thought of and discounted because of cost, but it's so helpful to have lots of new ideas to take forward to future events.  I wish had been able to count the footfall and will try to do this next time - it does help to have this information to pass on to people when they are booking a stall..

Advertising for this event was extensive: local newspapers; friends, shops and businesses displaying posters and handing out flyers; around 3,500 flyers were dropped through letterboxes in and around the Godalming area; Facebook, Twitter and Streetlife were used extensively to promote the event as were other paid and unpaid online sites.  On the day I fixed placards to roundabouts coming into the town centre and one on a roundabout just off of the A3.  Could I have done more?  I am sure I could, but what?

On the whole, it was a very good day and I enjoyed it and I feel the stallholders did too, which to me was the most important thing.  A great atmosphere, visitors were pleased with what was on sale, stallholders were friendly, welcoming and worked hard throughout the day to promote their work.  Now it is on to the next one: flyers already printed, some distributed, all places nearly sold, floor plan nearly completed, so I am hopeful it will be easier next time around - fingers crossed.

Finally, I did have a sneak away-day with a friend on Tuesday.  We went to the RHS Plant Sale in their Westminster Halls.  As fabulous as the show was (I bought plants, seeds, bulbs and a new bench!), the highlight for both of us was a tour of the library - we turned out to be the only two booked onto the tour and we had the undivided attention of one of the librarians.  We were shown gardening books, guides, botanical prints and seed catalogues that were, in some cases, over 300 years old.  It was 90 minutes of pure heaven.

Here are a few pics of the plants we saw at the show:

Isn't the Hosta stunning?

I am late with my post this week, but off now to link up with Handmade Monday.  I will be back next week, hopefully with some of my makes as getting a little behind with them  Have a great week everyone.

Jill

THE UNTITLED BLOG POST

Hello everyone

It is often hard to come up with a witty, snappy blog post title isn't it?  This week I couldn’t come up with a witty, snappy title so went with the one I have - not inspiring but, hey, it's a title.

How are you?  It seems we are about to drop into some freezing winter weather - apparently this is what we have missed over the last few weeks.  Just when the Camelias are flowering the Magnolias thinking about flowering and certain other plants that normally hate frost are peeping, the weather will be against them.

In between event organising and make cards and decorating bags, I have managed to spend time in the garden this week.  Apart from weeding (do weeds ever stop growing?) I sowed my tomato seeds and decided to give gherkins a try.  The problem is I may forget the gherkins and will end up with courgettes, possibly marrows!  Not too bad really as we like all of them.

I haven't found the Easter Bunny for my event and discovered that a Stilts-Walker would cost a frightening - amount but could I do it?  No way.  However, I have booked a lovely face-painter, Artyfacial, and also Mr Magic who will be doing balloon modelling.  Less than two weeks to go and, boy, am I getting nervous!  I am still up to my eyes in flyer and posting delivering and posting and the crazy thing is this is only one of six events this year!   By the end of this year I should be stick-thin - wishful thinking.

I took part in the Play Kenya Craft Fair yesterday - this is an event that runs twice each year and I have been part of if for the last two years  It is well organised, very well supported and attracts a great range of sellers of handmade goodies.  Next door to me was one of the stall holders taking part in my 5 April event - really nice to meet Jill Stobbart of the Gilded Raven.

My stall had my new range of cards using the gorgeous hats, boots and flowers I have placed on here over recent weeks as well as my Easter-themed jute bags - these included three new ones in the ever popular cat range:

I did a bit of Godalming Independent Market promotion while I was at the event.  Lots of interest and one lady has already contacted me.  However, I was very surprised when one stallholder said 'if I have to buy insurance I am not interested'.  I pointed out that apart from it being a requirement of my event insurance, it was in her own best interest.  Her response was that her work would not harm anyone - I said how about your table set up, table cloth, boxes?  I said I would forward details of my PLI so that she could see it was not as expensive as she assumed.   Surely it is better to be safe than sorry – it is also much, much cheaper. 

The hailstones have stopped, so I think I can just get some more pesky weeds pulled up before it gets too cold and frosty.  Have a great week everyone, thank you for your comments on my blog post of last week and don’t forget to join in and visit this week's Handmade Monday blog party.

Jill

SPRING IS ON THE WAY

Hello everyone

Lots of lovely sunshine during the last week, unfortunately interspersed with not so lovely rain!  Hey ho, it's that time of year really - sun, rain and hail stones the size of well, not quite golf balls, but they were pretty big.

I went to the Make-It show on Friday and bought lots of lovely card-making things.  I came across a range of gorgeous decoupage that featured hats, shoes and dresses and I couldn't resist buying several sheets and think they will be ideal for Mother's Day cards.  Following last week's Handmade Monday, I bought a download from Wendy's Handmade Harbour website of her gorgeous red and cream background sheets - a pure stroke of luck as they compliment the decoupage I bought at the show beautifully.  Here are three I made up today and I am really pleased with how they have turned out:

I will work on the dress and shoes decoupage sheets during this coming week and am sure they will suit the other background sheets from Wendy's lady bird pack.  I am so pleased with the backgrounds that I might tempt myself to buy the other set Wendy has to download - lovely colours and the patterns are really nice.

It's been the usual busy week here at Christmas Pie Crafts; a mix of event organisation, card-making workshop, kitten homing and numerous other things that were not on my written or on my 'in my mind' To Do list.  The card-making workshops have finished for a while - my next one is an Easter special in early April.  In a way I am glad, because it takes a lot of planning and preparation for a two-hour workshop, although I do enjoy them.

It's raining and getting dark, but I am sure spring is on the way.  Have a great week everyone and don't forget to visit this week's Handmade Monday bloggers.

'See' you next week.

Jill