Workshops and thank you's!

What a lovely weekend that was! On Saturday I was at Dawn's Studio to teach a workshop making Christmas boxes. We made a fold out box decorated with penguins and containing an "iceberg" (rolled paper!) with tiny polar bears scooting down it. There was also time to show the ladies how to make a very useful folded box which is ideal for popping little gifts into. Here is a picture of the boxes that everyone was busy making....

On the left you can see Jean who I snapped the week before as she was the lucky, and very deserving, winner of the card competition that Dawn hosted. Check out her prize! Ironically, Jean almost missed out on the competition because of the postal strike, so the result was obviously meant to be!

Although you can't see Joanne at the table...she's hiding behind Margaret!...she surprised David and I with a wonderful gift which her lovely husband Terry had made for us. It is a bee house! As we all know, our bees are in danger at the moment and are really struggling. The bee house is a cosy home for them to hibernate in over winter, and we may get a few Ladybirds moving in too. It's absolutely lovely and we were really chuffed with it - thank you Terry and Joanne.

It was a lovely afternoon and we all had lots of fun. Do check out Joanne's blog (My Toby Jug) for more pictures of the boxes. Joanne also brought along the pieces she has made for my sister's ATC and Tree Ornament swap. They are fabulous, so do join in the swap...you may be the lucky recipient of Joanne's handiwork.

The list of next year's workshops will be available very soon, but I can let you know a couple of themes for my classes which are already getting booked up. The first will be Embossing Techniques including Triple embossing. The second is "Fairy Doors" which are whimsical doors, each around 6" high and will appeal to those of you who believe in fairies, elves and everything magical. I've been wanting to do a workshop on these for ages now! The doors can be used on cards or scrapbook pages or can be strategically placed around the home for children, small and grown up (!) to discover. Please contact Topaz crafts directly if you would like to book on either of these.

On Sunday David and I were at Crafts 4U2 Do in St Helens. This is a great shop and, since I was last there, they have expanded and added a great little cafe in the store as well. Sue and her team looked after both of us wonderfully all day, keeping the coffees coming and insisting on us having lunch "on them"! I saw lots of familiar faces and there was lots of note taking going on - I said that I'd be asking questions later! Hello to everyone that came along and hope that you are enjoying all your new pens and stamps.

I must apologise to everyone that I am behind in catching up with - I do have some outstanding ATC's, emails and cards to send....they will get to you eventually, I promise. This week I am getting prepared for my trip down to Basildon (nightmare journey) to Wickfords. I will be using Nestabilities along with stamps, inks etc. Then on the Sunday I'll be at Dawn'd to demonstrate in the morning and host a make n take at her residential crafting event in the afternoon. So lots of samples to get ready - just for a change! Well, dinner is just about ready I am told, so I shall say cheerio for the moment and will hopefully post again before the weekend. Lindsay