GOING FOR GOLD

Hi everyone

What a fantastic week it has been for Team GB; some heart-breaking moments for some of the athletes and some really wonderful achievements.  Can there be a more exciting medal-winning day than yesterday?  Well done everyone.

This week has been wall-to-wall wedding invitations plus two 'need it now please' card orders: one for a friend and one for my sister.  As always, I forgot to take photographs!  I purchased some material for fabric wreaths this week, because I couldn't resist them when I saw them in the shop, but as the invitations (and now the Orders of Service) have been top priority the wreaths are further down the Crafts To-Do list.  Here is a pic of how the invitations looked in the early stages (a cream pocket with orange ribbon - the colour combination is lovely):

I am moving ahead with the Craft Workshops I want to set up; a message has been posted on Twitter and Facebook and I am producing some posters to place on local noticeboards.  My plan is to have everything in place to begin the workshops around late September.  I would also like to run Christmas card workshops and think this is a good time of year; school holidays will be over and perhaps parents may have time to attend a workshop on a Friday morning.

From feedback and comments posted this week on a very interesting Handmade Harbour blog post about blogging etiquette, I understand that chatty, newsy blog posts may not always be welcome in the crafting world and as my followers/readers know, I have a tendency to write (and enjoy writing) this type of post.  Handmade Monday (HM) followers take part in the weekly event because of the blog's aim to bring crafters together to share and talk about their work and see the creations of fellow handmade artists.  Even though my Sunday blog post is not written specifically for HM (it is my main weekly post), my future Sunday posts will be for HM only and will be about my creations and craft-related topics.  This will, as usual, be published on Sundays and from this week onwards I will publish my chatty, newsy round-up of the previous week's goings-on at Christmas Pie Crafts on Tuesdays.

Don't forget to check out the other Handmade Monday blog posts this week - lots of beautiful crafts, tutorials and interesting posts to read.  I will be back next Sunday with my Handmade Monday post, but do visit my blog throughout the week to catch up on the tales of life in Christmas Pie Crafts.  There will be a Guest Blog post on Friday of this week, and I have 4 lovely bloggers who are already writing their posts for publication in the coming weeks.

Enjoy the Olympics everyone - it's getting more exciting every day.

Jill

WEDNESDAY'S BLOG BITS AND PIECES

Hi everyone

Despite promising myself that I would not watch too much television, it has been very hard not to sit glued to the Olympics.  I am not a big sports fan, but like most high-profile events, they just have to be watched, don't they?  I have been so impressed by the good humour of everyone, spectators are clearly enjoying their time in London and (so far, I hasten to add) the predicted problems on the roads seem to have either not occurred or have been very minor.  Lots more to watch, so come on Team GB.

In my last post, I forgot to write about my visit to see the potential workshop venue at the Normandy Therapy Garden.  It is such a lovely spot, gorgeous flowers and veggies all looking really healthy and well tended.  The room is a good size, naturally lit from two sides and perhaps my only concern is that it seems to be a bit of a thorough-fare to all other rooms in the building.  However, I don't think that will be a problem.  The catering facilities are good and there is plenty of outdoor space (tables and chairs available) to enjoy a coffee break or perhaps lunch for a full-day session.  I am advertising my sessions on Blink Collective and I will begin to promote them locally, on my blog and my website - when it is finished of course.

Possibly no Friday Guest blog post this week, but the good news is that I have three lovely bloggers who are currently writing posts and these will be posted from mid-August onwards.  Can I ask a favour of my previous guest bloggers please?  Would you mind very much mentioning the guest blog post on your blog and asking if any of your followers would like to join in?  Thank you - it would be lovely to get more people interested in what has proved to be a great 'event'

Working very hard on my wedding invitation order - I am really pleased with how it is going.  I have a deadline delivery date of Monday, 6 August for the wedding invitations and later in the month for the Orders of Service.  As you can imagine, it is all systems go at Christmas Pie Crafts.

Back to the invitations.  Do come back on Friday as you never know there may be a guest blog post and if you would like to be a guest blogger, do get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com

Enjoy the Olympics

Jill