My Happy Place...

...in the Sun.

My lawn will never be a velvet green patch that could put a bowling green to shame. To be honest the lawn looks more like straw with a hint of green.

I don't have loads of flower beds abundant with colourful blooms. The yucca is likely to have a mass of white bell-like flowers later in the Summer but for now the only colour is the purple of a wild buddleia.

However, when Mother Nature sees fit to bless us with glorious blue skies...

 ...it seems a shame not to sit outside and make the most of the lovely weather.

Problem was, until last Friday the only seats I had in the garden were a rather uncomfortable bench and some plastic white chairs (fine for sitting at a table but not very comfortable to sit in for any length of time) which are actually a little too high for me as I'm only 5ft 4ins on a good day.

A couple of years ago I saw the perfect chair for me in a branch of The Range but the colours on offer were not to my taste. Then earlier this year I saw the same chairs in just the right shade for me - but by the time payday came around they had all gone. I was sure it was not to be but then last week they had some more in but I didn't have space in the car. It looked like I was going to miss out again.

Just on the off chance, I called into The Range on my way home from Barleylands on Friday and luck was on my side. A chair and table were soon making their way to my car in the car park but oh dear - the chair would not fit. A length of rope, and the tailgate left open  (I was determined to secure my purchase) and I headed home - at a rather gentle pace.
 
As you can see, the grass leaves a lot to be desired but I love my new seat and table....

 ...the seat is just the right height for me...

 ...and for a moulded resin chair it is wonderfully comfortable. The perfect place to sit with a cup of coffee...

 

 ...and enjoy a bit of crafting outside in the sunshine...

...in the ideal spot in the garden. The place where I've set my table & chair is in a part of the garden that gets the sun for most of the day and is quite secluded so no-one is overlooking.

My garden may not be the prettiest place in the world but I now have my own little "Happy place" where I can sit and enjoy the sunshine and while away a few happy hours.

I'm now on the look out for a sun umbrella in a matching or toning colour then everything will really be perfect..........................................................................

HUGE Shock...

...Pinnacle Crafts has decided to close its physical shop.

Please see the following message: -

Hi everyone,

We hope you are well?

We would like to announce that we have taken the decision to close our shop here at Barleylands and concentrate on our on line offering and also our lessons and workshops.

So, we won’t be closing Pinnacles as a whole, just the physical shop... Therefore as a Pinnacle Crafts Club Member, you will still be able to use your discount on our website and also attend our Card Making and Parchment Craft lessons and workshops. In fact, we are looking to expand these.

So, if you are interested in any of our workshops then please let us know. And, if there is sufficient interest, we will open up additional dates, as the ones we currently teach are pretty much full on a weekly basis.

 

From Tuesday 23^rd May 2017, until a date to be announced we will be having a

Rummage Sale in the shop.

Everything is 50%

off the marked price to everyone..

(stock on our website has been “zeroed out” until after the event. The sale is just in store.)

We acknowledge and appreciate that Club Members Discount Weekend would have been this coming weekend. This sale is instead of this event.

We will not be taking any orders at this time, the sale is just off of the items we have in stock.

 

So, that’s half price off of all remaining Adhesives, Dies, Cutting Plates, Parchment and Groovi products, pre packed card and paper, Stamps, Inks, Punches, Embellishments, Paints, Wooden Shapes & MDF, Pinflair & Cross Stitch Kits, Pens & Pencils, Pan Pastels, Tools & Equipment, Books & CDs and already Reduced to Clear items.

In addition, the following products have been reduced in price;

All loose single sheets of card & paper – 20p each (yes, if it says £1.49 on it, its 20p!!)

All loose single sheets of Peel Offs – 20p each

All loose single sheets of Non Die Cut Decoupage Sheets – 20p each

Gift Vouchers

Gift Vouchers are still redeemable in the shop, or can be used for workshops or on our website after the event.

Fixtures & Fittings

We will be offering our card/paper stands and Billy Book Cases for sale. If you would like to lay claim to any of these please let us know.

The A4 and 12”x12” paper stands are £2.50 each, or 10 for £20.00. Sight as seen and can only be collected between 20^th – 24^th June 2017. Cash only...

The Billy Book Cases are £10.00 each or 2 for £15.00. Again, sight as seen and collection only between 20^th – 24^th June 2017. Cash only...

Outstanding Orders

We would encourage you to come and collect any outstanding orders you have been advised which are now in. Orders which have outstanding balances to pay will be honoured at the discount at time of ordering only.

Magazines

We will no longer be holding our range of magazines in stock. So, if you are on our list of recipients, please be advised of this.

Please feel free to share this message with any of your fellow crafters and/or Club Members who you know do not receive this newsletter, as this Rummage Sale is open to everyone.. If you have a blog or belong to any social media groups, crafting groups, School Clubs, Guides or Scout Groups, etc, please feel free to share this message with them too as there are some great bargains to be had which will help keep the costs of running such groups down.

We’re sure that this message will come as a bit of a shock to some of you. We have been here at Barleylands for almost 14 years and in that time we have seen crafting and retail in general change beyond recognition... We hope you understand why we feel the need to make this change to Pinnacles at this time..

N.B

We will be closed specifically on Sunday 18^th June 2017 (this is not our actual closing date though). This is so we can celebrate Fathers Day with our Dad, something we have not been able to do on this day in 14 years.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Pinnacles....

This is such a shame as this has been my 'go to' place every weekend for as long as I can remember - and as the bank manager will confirm, this has been where a big chunk of my salary goes.

Classes will continue and the message says that their on-line service will also continue but such a shame not to have the physical shop once the sale is over...I am an impulse buyer and rarely come out with just what I went in for.

Anyhoo...

If you happen to be in the area, do take advantage of the sale. A great chance to stock up on a few bits & bobs...................................................................................

Saturday was the...

...last day of the 70% off sale at Pinnacle Crafts.

The shop is now closed for a few days so that the new classroom can be set-up on the ground floor.

Over the weeks that the sale has been running I have picked up quite a few bargains and Saturday was no exception. This was my bag of goodies...

 ...and this is what was inside...

 ...quite a mix of stuff. A lovely wooden stamp that reminded me of "Harry Potter", some lovely blue PPs, some bling, some Copics and some stamps...

 ...isn't this set just adorable with the children out in the country-side. I also took advantage of the 70% off to stock up on some Christmas CS...

...the blues and greens will be perfect for background layering on some Festive cards as we go through the year.

Andy is certain that everything will "fit" in the new layout of the shop and classroom so fingers crossed......................................................................................

Final push to...

...clear some more of that stock.

The latest message from Andy, Joanne & Paul...

Hi everyone,

Well, we’re on the final push to downsize Pinnacles to make the much

needed space we need in the new downstairs work room and shop...

To complete this, we are having a final reductions downsizing sale...

70% off

the marked price of all stock, both in store and on line...

Yup, that’s 70% off the marked price of everything (excluding current issue magazines)...

This final reductions sale starts right now over on the website and in store from Tuesday 14^th February @ 10am..

It will continue until 4pm on Saturday 25^th February.

We will then be closed from Sunday 26^th February – Wednesday 01^st March (inclusive)

for us to de camp from our upstairs workroom and do the impossipuzzle and set up the new

downstairs work room and re arrange the shop...

We will re open @ 10am Thursday 02^nd March.

During the move, our card making lesson (Tuesday 01^st & Wednesday 02^nd March) schedule will be on hold,

(don’t worry ladies, I’ll make it up to you!)

but the Tuesday evening Parchment lesson will be unaffected..

We’ve been re stocking our shelves with more and more stock as space has become available.

So, if you’ve already been in and grabbed some bargains, there are many, many new ones on offer at this exceptional discount..

So, come and stock up!!

Whilst we are downsizing we will be out of stock of some of our essentials such as adhesives etc,

these will start to return to our shelves once we reopen.

We thank you for your patients, support and custom during this period and look forward to seeing you

during our final reductions sale and afterwards in our new look set up...

If you are shopping on line, simply enter code    downsize70  in the

promotional coupon box when checking out to activate your discount.

Orders over £40 (after discount) qualify for free delivery.. Although we don’t have a click n collect option, if you would rather collect your

order than have it sent out then please indicate this on your order in the delivery details section.

If your order is under £40 and you choose to collect it then we will of course refund the delivery cost on collection.

We will be sharing these details on our Facebook page and other social media outlets,

please feel free to do the same on your Facebook pages, blogs, or other crafting groups as this sale is open to everyone...

Pinnacles...

...WOWZA, 70% off - now it really would be rude not to take advantage of that..................................

Meet Verity Rose...

...the cute "1920s" style collection from Crafters Companion.

I remember seeing this character in card & gift shops quite some time ago - pens, notebooks, mugs, bags etc. - but hadn't realised that Crafters Companion had done a craft range of this line.

Here are 3 of the 6 characters available...

...there is also "Flutterby", "Sunbeam" and "Starlet".

I came across this range in The Works this week when I went in to see what craft stuff they had in their current promotion.

There is a clear stamp set for each of the characters and also a small accessory stamp set. Embossing folders, ribbons and sticky labels (that's what I've found in my local branch). I will be keeping an eye out to see if they have anything else as they currently have a "Triple Points" promotion for their loyalty card holders and there is also a 20% off part to the promotion when you meet the minimum spend of £10.

So if you fancy any of these "1920s" cuties; pop along to your local branch of The Works to see what they have.........................................................

The Pinnacle Crafts downsizing...

...is going well.

Andy says they are working their way through the boxes of stock and fingers crossed they will be on track for the move of the classroom to the ground floor.

For regular visitors to Pinnacles, the walls & racks may currently look very different stock-wise but do take the time to have a good browse  - I have certainly come across a few treasures that have had to come home with me LOL

Everything in the shop is at 50% off and this includes sale items that were already reduced. There are some exclusions such as current issues of magazines but if you are not sure, just ask Andy, Joanne or Paul.

There will not be any newly ordered stock in the shop until levels have reduced to provide the space needed for the new classroom BUT you can order anything in the normal way - prices of ordered items will NOT be part of the 50% off (Club members will get their normal discount on ordered items).

I now have a lovely set of "All our Yesterdays" rubber stamps, some "Back & Front" clear stamps, a Gelli plate and some cross stitch kits (amongst other things **chuckle**). Some of the stamps I've managed to get are ones that I don't ever remember seeing in the shop but that could be that I was more into scrapbooking when I first started shopping there and stamping wasn't something I did very much - until I discovered Copics...and the rest is history as they say.

So if you are in the area, do pop in for a browse and a rummage. You never know, you might just find something that you have been looking for and with 50% off it would be rude not to grab a few other items whilst you are there.............................................................

Making use of...

...those January Sale purchases.

A visit to The Works when I returned to work after the New Year revealed some pretty yarns in their seasonal clearance sale...

 ...and oh it was difficult to decide which colour to pick.
However, I went with the grey & pink as it was something a bit different to anything else I had...

 ...and a couple of evenings on the sofa produced this lovely soft hat (made on the round knitting loom). Then the needles came out...

...but I'm not sure if I like the way this is knitting up. I might undo it and start again using the rectangle knitting loom - I'll have to have a think about this one.....................................

Have you heard...

...the news about Pinnacle Crafts?

They are having a MA-HOO-SIVE downsizing sale. See the announcement below...

Hi everyone,

We hope you are well?

We would like to announce that we have decided to downsize Pinnacle Crafts. With Mum virtually retired now, the day to day running of the shop, teaching and the website are becoming too much for just the 3 of us to continue with in the same way we used to and still maintain our high standards of service and creativity.

So, to help us achieve this,

from Today on the website, and from the 24/01/17 in store, until a date to be announced,

we are having a MASSIVE DOWNSIZING Rummage SALE...

50% Off Of Everything in store to everyone..

If you are shopping on line, simply enter code

downsize50 in the promotional code section to activate the discount

We are obviously aware that it is Members Discount Weekend next Weekend,

so we have decided to incorporate this within our Downsizing Rummage Sale.

Therefore, Club Members “Week” will run in store from 24/01/17 – 29/01/17 10am – 4pm

However, any orders placed for out of stocks or new products will only be processed with

Club Members 30% or applicable Discount.

**Orders already placed and/or awaiting collection from us will be at discount at time they were ordered..**

The 50% Sale price is only for stock we already have within the shop

and includes already Reduced To Clear Products.

So, that’s 50% off of all in stock Dies, Embossing Folders, Adhesives, Cutting Equipment & Tools, Parchments Tools & Accessories, Card & Paper, Peel Offs, Inks & Colouring Tools, Stamps & Accessories,

Cross Stitch Kits, Pinflair Sequin Kits and already Reduced to Clear Items.

Please pass this information onto any Club Members you may know who do not receive the Members Newsletter

and also all of your crafty friends, as this Rummage Sale is open to them too (excludes CM’s 30% orders).

We’ll be sharing this on Social Media too, so please feel free to do the same or any crafting groups or forums you belong to.

Come and grab some amazing crafting bargains...

Pinnacles....

...but before anyone starts to panic about the loss of another B&M craft store - in Andy's words they are moving from a house to a bungalow. This means that the lessens will take place in the store which will be easier for Joanne, Paul & Andy to manage now that Pauline has more or less retired.

So if you live within access of Barleylands Craft Village, why not pop along and grab yourself a bargain - but don't worry if you are further away; just pop onto their website and see what takes your fancy...but please leave  some goodies for me to grab when I pop over there on Friday...........................................

How can two weeks...

...fly by so quickly?

Christmas has been "packed away" ready for the next one and the fridge is groaning a little less...

...as the mountain of food has gradually been consumed.

The sales have been visited and taken advantage of...I now have a lovely new log-burner effect stove for the lounge and a collection of stamps to add to the ones that I received as gifts (I will be playing with my selection of Card-io stamps once I get myself a bit more organised).

I haven't blogged much over the holiday period but have taken the opportunity to catch up on a bit of blog reading.

The knitting needles & crochet hooks have had a good workout over the holidays and once I've taken some photos I'll share the details - although I realised that there are a few items that I forgot to photograph before I gave them as gifts...what a numpty.

So the New Year is up and running and it is back to work (groan) - I wonder how many emails I will have to wade through?

Have a wonderful week everyone.............................................................

What has disappeared from...

...your High Street?

The beginning of October saw the last of our banks withdraw from the High Street in our town and last night saw a lot of frustrated folk getting off the train and finding that only one of the remaining ATMs in the town was actually working. Something that is becoming all too familiar...

...as more & more banks jump on the "let's push digital" band-wagon.

I may be a 'stick in the mud' but I don't want to do everything on-line and I don't want to deal with row upon row of machines - I want to deal with a person.

When we moved to this area, many moons ago, our high street was a wonderful mix. We had a good selection of banking facilities...Barclays, Midland, Lloyds, Nationwide, TSB and of course the Post Office. Now all we have is the Post Office which is little more than a raised desk in the local newsagent's where there is normally only one member of staff flitting between serving papers and dealing with post & banking.

There were a couple of supermarkets, chemists, pet-shops, grocers, butchers, general stores, hardware stores, utilities, hairdressers, shoe-shops........all the things you would expect in a small country town centre. Now all we seem to have is Estate Agents and Take-aways - not fabulous for an area with a high pensioner population.

A mile down the road we have another town centre and things are just as bad there as many of the banking facilities have disappeared over the years (or combined). It was great when Barclays combined with The Woolwich as in Corringham they adopted the Woolwich opening hours - Saturday morning opening - great for those of us that don't always have time during the week.......last weekend that came to an end and staff were telling folk not to worry "they could use the post office"????

The Media keep telling us that society is becoming very isolated and kids can't communicate well - what do they expect when there is becoming less opportunity for human, face-to-face interaction.

We live in a world of constant change and we have wonderful technology available to us but we really shouldn't be losing out on human contact.

I work in an area where there is a very high level of shoplifting in the shopping mall - virtually every store has a security guard and there are more wandering around the mall. Yet the likes of Lidl, Poundland, Sainsburys and Wilko have replaced loads of the checkouts with self service tills - are they mad? If they were freeing up staff to wander around being 'visible' there might be some sense to it but they haven't - you can never find an assistant when you need one so they have actually used this move to reduce staff.

I work with PCs every day and I am currently typing this on my home PC - fabulous - but I like to meet & talk to people; real people. So I will continue to support my local stores (the ones that remain) and hope that the High Street doesn't disappear completely.............................................

Naked Flame...

...is having a huge sale!

If you live in reachable distance of Barleylands Craft Village (or jump on-line) you could grab some bargains and perhaps deal with some of your present list.

Ian the owner of "Naked Flame" is clearing a lot of his stock to make space for the Autumn/Christmas seasonals and so that he can expand his own Naked Flame range.

Virtually everything in store is 50% off and there are a few items reduced by as much as 70% - how can you say no to bargains like that.

Current stock includes: -

Woodwick Candles
Wax Lyrical
Colony
Artisan
Kringle
Classic Candles
Prices
and lots of lovely accessories.

At the moment I'm having a lovely time burning the Naked Flame "Lemongrass & Ginger" - probably my favourite smell ever...............................................

A little bit of...

..Christmas stash.

I suppose I'm not the only one to have a purse full of 'loyalty cards'. I have various supermarkets, coffee shops, chemists, craft shops etc. and for those that don't have 'plastic', I have the cards that get stamped every time I spend over a certain amount.

For some folk this may seem like a bit of a faff but it is surprising how those savings can mount up.

This week I had a little spend on some Christmas stash in The Works...

...and this little lot didn't cost as much as you would think because I had £6 to spend on my loyalty card.

Loyalty cards can often entitle you to other benefits - special promotions, freebies - which all help to stretch the budget so make them work for you.

In the meantime, I'd better stop stroking this little lot and actually put it to some use........................................................

We have been having...

...a lot of hot and humid weather.

However, that doesn't stop me from having candles burning in my home to bring a cosy glow and to add a lovely fragrance.

I recently bought a wicker candle lamp from "Naked Flame" as Ian the owner was having a sale to clear some space for some ne stock items.

I also bought a pillar candle to use in the lamp...

...and it is burning beautifully. The candle is burning down without any mess and the fragrance is wonderful.

This candle is from Wax Lyrical "Mandarin & Cranberry" which is technically a Winter/Christmas smell but I love this fragrance and would happily burn it all year round...one slight problem though...it has been discontinued (although there may be something similar in this year's collection).

I love fruit & spice smells at any time of year.

If you like candles, what is your favourite scent..........................................................

This weekend is...

...flying by.

There I was, looking forward to a lovely long weekend and in the blink of an eye it is Sunday already.

I may not have achieved much in the crafting department (apart from a lovely bit of retail therapy at Pinnacle Crafts Members Weekend) but I have had a chance to try Ian's new range of candles and reed diffusers now available from Naked Flame.

He is hoping to have four sizes of jar candles but at present his supplier is out of stock of the largest size. However, from the other three sizes I picked the middle size and this is it burning merrily away...

 ...the wax has a fabulous smooth consistency and the wick is very good quality...

...no smoking or mushrooming. I had the candle burning for 7 hours and there was no need to trim the wick at all and there wasn't any debris floating in the liquid wax either.

As for the fragrance - I went for Lemongrass & Ginger. Wonderful scent. Strong enough that you notice it but not a 'slap in the face' type. I burnt the candle in my kitchen and the scent was filtering through to the lounge creating a lovely overall fragrance.

There will be a range of 6 different fragrances in Ian's Naked Flame range and I can tell you they all smell wonderful but the Lemongrass & Ginger is my favourite.

There have been a couple of additions to the dressing table as well.

The "Golden Sands" holder matches my wax warmer perfectly...

...I just love the way the light catches the golden shades in these glass pieces. The other addition...

...a Lemongrass & Ginger reed diffuser to replace the wooden container one you can see in the previous photo. One of the things that I've always disliked about using reeds is the need to faff around remembering to turn the reeds - these reeds don't need to be turned and they deliver the fragrance very quickly once they have been inserted into the liquid.

So at the moment, my home is smelling wonderfully of Lemongrass & Ginger.

The sky is looking very hazy so I'm not sure what the weather is intending in my neck of the woods.

For those of you in the UK, I hope you are able to enjoy the longer Bank Holiday weekend.

If you live in the Essex area (or near by), don't forget that it is still Members Weekend at Pinnacle Crafts and if you are a club member you can get a whopping 30% off most of the crafting goodies that they sell (there are exceptions - details are available on their website).

Disclaimer: Although Ian asked me to give him my opinion about his new products, it was my decision to share my views here on my blog. I also regularly promote Pinnacle Crafts as I think we have lost far too many craft stores in recent years and I like to support my local retailers.

Have a great weekend everyone.......................................................................

If you are a Pinnacle Crafts Club Member...

...don't forget it is Members weekend, this weekend.

This year has been flying by and I can't believe that it will be June next week. However, before then, we have a lovely 4-day chance to have a Crafty (take that any way you wish) spend - 30% off subject to the normal restrictions.

If you are a club member (you could join on-line) and can get to Barleylands (or place an order by email from Friday to Monday), please see the message from the Pinnacles crew below...

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder from us that it is

Pinnacle Crafts Club Members

Discount Weekend

THIS WEEKEND

Yes, it’s another 4 day’er

Friday 27^th May 9am – 4pm

Saturday 28^th, Sunday 29^th,

& Bank Holiday Monday 30^th May 10am – 4pm

I found a lovely new...

...candle shop.

Naked Flame Shop - see their website here.

They have just opened a unit at Barleylands Craft Village (The Fragrance Parlour - Studio 27). It is one of the smaller units but there are certainly plenty of candles/melts/oils/accessories to see...and of course be tempted by. Be warned though, you will not find any cheapo candles there. They stock brands such as Kringle, Wax Lyrical, Colonial, Prices & Woodwick - so if you prefer to buy 100 tea-lights for 99p, this is probably not the place for you but if you like good quality candles...go and 'sniff' to your hearts content.

I was certainly tempted by the range of wax melts that they stock and this one, "Classic Coffee", just had to come home with me...

 ...the pack contains a block rather like a chocolate bar consisting of six smaller blocks...

 ...and all you need to do is break off one of the blocks and place it in a warmer. I have a couple of electric warmers that I picked up in the sales (they were reduced because they came with Winter/Christmas fragrances) - this one is a cream glazed warmer from Glade...

...and as you can see, one small block creates a nice pool across the warmer.

I have been heating this for two evenings and the smell is lovely - subtle, not overpowering. A lot of 'food/drink' fragranced candles/melts can be very heavy and quite sickly but this certainly isn't.

When you break the large block you get a strong smell of coffee but the fragrance as it melts is much softer. This warmer is in my kitchen that opens out onto the hallway. The fragrance in the kitchen is barely noticeable but you know that it is there when you are in the hallway and can even smell it in the lounge. As I said, very pleasant and not overpowering.

I did wonder if I would notice the smell at all as I love coffee and we are often oblivious to smells that we encounter on a regular basis - no problem with this, it has been lovely just having that background hint of fresh coffee.

(Please note: this is my opinion and I have not been paid to make these comments).

There are lots of lovely fragrances to choose from at Naked Flame and one of the fabulous things is that they don't keep seasonal fragrances just for the season that it relates to. I don't know about you, but I love lots of the warm spicy scents that are normally only around in the shops at Christmas and it can be frustrating to find something that you like only to be told that they won't be getting any more because Christmas is over. I'll be taking my Sister with me this weekend so that she can indulge is some "Crimbo sniffing" LOL

Well, I now have another reason for visiting Barleylands on a regular basis - as if I needed one................................................................

(This review was not solicited, I just wanted to share my find).

What a bargain...

...reduced from £14.99 to £2.00.

If you are a knitter you will probably have come across the name 'Debbie Bliss'. She is a lady who has her own range of knitting yarns, patterns etc. - and obviously as you can see, books.

The Works stores seem to have been having quite a promotion on their Arts & Crafts products recently and this includes lots of craft books. When I saw this one...

...I just had to grab a copy and it didn't take me long to make a start LOL.

I do not have a dog but my Sister has a rescue dog - Lexi.

Lexi is now four years old and has been with my Sister for two years - she is a little sweetie but she does feel the cold so she has a variety of coats and jumpers to keep away the chill when the weather is damp or windy.

I think one of the reasons that this book caught my eye was because the dog on the front reminded me of Lexi. I'm not sure how many will actually get made but even if it is just the one that will be fine - knitting patterns alone are so expensive these days and it is not uncommon to end up paying more than I did for this book for just a single pattern.

I'm keeping this one fairly plain just so I can check the size. Let's hope Lexi lets me take some photos when it is done...she does tend to be a little camera shy......................................................

Aren't they...

...Dinky.

When I went into The Range it was clear that they had originally had a much larger stock of the Gorjuss collectible stamps but this was all that they had left...

 ...just 10 of the 20 designs that are currently available - so I grabbed them.

It is always difficult to judge size from a photo unless there is a reference....

...so I stood one against a standard individual packet of crisps (the 25g size) and as you can see they are much smaller than the normal Gorjuss stamps.

I hope to get some of them inked up this weekend for a bit of a play...............................................

So much for...

...my trip to the seaside.

The sun was out - lovely.

However, I'd forgotten about the change to the C2C timetables since December - not so lovely.

So yes, there was a beautiful blue sky...

 ...with fluffy clouds on the horizon...

...but I had to wait for almost half an hour for a train and boy was it chilly.

The only 'up side' to the new timetable is that most of the services heading away from London during the morning go all the way through to Southend Central - so no platform hopping at Pitsea.

Southend was beautifully bright & sunny but unless you could keep in sheltered areas it was cold.

I had forgotten how the high street is all hustle & bustle on a Thursday due to the stalls of the street market - after all, it is 3 years since I was managing the team at Southend. Gosh time has flown.

Of course, being in Southend I couldn't pass up on a quick nip into The Range and I did come away with some of the new Gorjuss collectible stamps. I have a bit of a 'love/hate' relationship with the Gorjuss girls - I fall in love with the images but am often disappointed with the results of my colouring as they are quite big stamps. The collectibles are a cute smaller size so I'll give them a go.

Perhaps not having to go to Southend on a regular basis is a good thing because to get from the station to the office I have to pass too many tempting shops - at least in Stratford I have the option of walking straight to the office without going near any shops LOL

Back to my own office today and then it is the weekend - yay!!!

Unfortunately, it looks like Mother Nature is saving on the electric at the moment as it looks pretty dull and murky out there. I'd better wrap up well - have a good day folks.........................................

Nice things do happen...

...occasionally.

On my way back from "Member's weekend" at Pinnacle Crafts I got caught in a traffic jam that would have been hard pressed to compete with a snail. A jam that turned out to be caused by roadworks but one of those situations where the 'wonderful' workmen didn't see a need to place any road signs until you were right on top of the closed off area. As a result I cut through a different way and as I was passing Craft Plus, I thought I would pop in and pick up a Joy stamp that I had been considering.

It is "Tombola" weekend (a fact that I had forgotten with everything else that has happened this week). The wooden box was being spun and everyone was being invited to draw a ticket which could have resulted in a discount of 10%, 15%, 20%...whatever.

The ticket that I pulled was for 50% off all purchases so I came away with a bit more that I went in for as you can see...

 ...this little lot would have been around £60 but at just under £30 I was a very happy bunny and you might notice there is a Tim Holtz Christmas blueprint set in amongst it all - this was the cherry on the top of the cake. I have looked longingly at this set for some time but couldn't justify the expense but now it is all mine.

Did I remember to get the stamp that I actually went in for?

Yes I did and here it is...

 ...I have some pretty pastel rainbow papers and I'm looking forward to having a play with this on those papers.

At Pinnacle's member's weekend I treated myself to this...

 ...as my pencil case has run out of spaces for the tools I have...

 ...I also added a couple of shaders to my collection...

...along with some pens...

...and a couple of grids.

I also picked up the G45 Worlds Fair in 12x12 & 8x8 as well as some Sweet Dixie dies that I have been thinking about. All in all I managed to get the things that I had budgeted for and a few extras (I hadn't planned on the Pergamano pens).

My friend Hilary was very pleased with her purchases and she is looking forward to the Sue Wilson dies that she pre-ordered.

The café at Barleylands is still out of commission but my suggestion of putting some seating in the barn has been taken on board so at least folk can sit out of the weather - there is also background music playing LOL.

Hilary and I had a lovely catch-up chat whilst tucking into a fried egg roll (Me) and a bacon roll (Hilary), washed down with nice hot coffee.

The latest about Mum - and thank you for all the lovely messages I received - she is still in hospital, still in pain (although the Doctor thinks some of this may be that she is tensing assuming there will be pain) and not very mobile. We have had to lodge concerns that the hospital are not being very 'open' about her condition as on Tuesday I visited to find that she was barely conscious but we had been told on the phone that she was "fine". Now the latest thing is that she isn't eating because she says it makes her feel sick - she has been in hospital a week and they only thought to mention it when my niece questioned them about something else yesterday (Friday). So I went in yesterday afternoon with a supply of baby rice because I know that it is something that she uses at home to help her swallow her tablets. She still wasn't keen but hopefully we can encourage her.

Today, I have to take her walking frame into the hospital because it would appear that they don't stock any that can be lowered sufficiently for Mum's height (???) - she's 4ft 10ins - not exactly minute. Hopefully having her own frame will encourage her to at least have a go at what the physios have been trying to get her to do.

Each day as it comes................................................................................