The Great Spring Bloggy Meet-up . . .

After a week of lovely warm sunny days, last Saturday dawned, rainy and just a tad chilly but the clouds soon cleared and the sun put it's hat on.  Yay . . .

And from near & far, a confusion of bloggers gathered in beautiful Stratford upon Avon. 

 

around & about in Shakespeare's town

  

a spot of shopping at Sew Me Something

lunch & laughter at The Four Teas

We chatted (a lot) and we laughed (a lot), 

we shared stories, 

we ate, 

we drank, 

we shopped, 

we wandered,

 we nattered some more, and we laughed some more.

Oh what a fabulous day we had . . .

Thank you   Mel Makes,   Mellie Moo (on Instagram),  The Patchwork Robin,  Plain Jane,  Three Stories High,  Lazy Daisy Jones,  Perfect Sarah (on Instagram),  Love Made My Home,  and Sunshine Reflections
- it was such a blessing to spend the day in your delightful company.
Let's do it again.
 Soon. 








: - )


 'til next time,

xoxo

ps.  do pop over and read all the other accounts of our lovely day too, they're guaranteed to make you smile.

Let's get together . . .

 Anyone fancy a little get-together ?  

Something to look forward to in the Spring ?

In this wonderful crafty blogland of ours, we get to chat about and share little snippets of each other's lives, loves & pretty makes - cultivating and growing some lovely friendships along the way. 

 And don't you sometimes read a fellow blogger's post and think how much fun it would be to just meet up, have a natter, a cuppa (and cake, of course . . .) and craft the afternoon away, because you just know you'd enjoy it ?  

Well, I've had the privilege of doing just that - and it was oh-so-much fun.

The lovely Jane who blogs over at Plain Jane, organized our last bloggy meet-up, and over a BYO picnic lunch at beautiful Shugborough (which you can read about HERE  if you like), it was decided that the historic town of Stratford-upon-Avon should be the ideal venue for our next get-together.  

  Here on this Great British island of ours, it's pretty easy to get around and no place is really that far from any other - and Stratford is pretty much in the middle.  Easy to get to by road or rail (the train station is literally a 5 minute walk from the town centre)

And if you're coming from a little further afield, bring a friend or your loved ones and make a weekend of it.  There's lots to do in Stratford and if you'd like some ideas on what to do and where to stay, I'm happy to oblige - or pop over here to the Visit Stratford website.

So consider this your invitation . . .

Nothing fancy, just a fun, informal get-together of crafty bloggy peeps on

Saturday, 11th April 2015

in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire 

- right in the middle of this green & pleasant land.

If you'd like to come along, or you think you'd love to join us but would like more details about where / what / when / trains, planes & automobiles, 

then please leave me a comment on this post or drop me an email:  gillymakes(at)gmail(dot)com

Once we know you're interested, I'll let you know the finer details like time & place, etc etc.

And if you're still not sure, have a little read about our previous bloggy get-togethers here and here. 

We would so love you to join us for a fun crafternoon tea . . .

Ooh, and seeing as we're right there, we'll definitely arrange a little visit here too:

 

Looking forward to getting together . . .

Happy weekending,

'til next time

xoxo

Fabulous fabrics , yummy cake . . . Fancy coming along ?

Anybody not-too-far-away fancy a little excursion to beautiful Stratford upon Avon next Thursday 3^rd of July?

Sew Me Something is hosting an oh-so-exciting event by 

                                                        

Pat Bravo, the creative force behind Art Gallery fabrics is coming to the UK, she will be visiting only 3 shops while she’s here, and Sew Me Something is the only one outside London!

                                                    

Pat, along with her husband Walter and Angie, their Creative Director will be there from

                                                               

11:00am – 1:00pm on Thursday 3^rd July

to chat about how Art Gallery works and to showcase all the delicious new fabrics that will be coming out very soon. 

(see, I told you it was exciting . . .)

        

And Pat will be giving a demonstration on how she machine pieces hexagons for her patchwork projects - it’s always great to see how the professionals do stuff. . .

and there will be a free pattern for the fun Charming Tote Bag too.
 

Oh, and I should mention, Jules has promised there will be plenty of tea, coffee and homemade cakes ?

Let me know if you'd like to come along - it'd be so lovely to see you . . .


Happy weekend,
xoxo

                      

Shugborough shenanigans . . .

Oh what a lovely day we had . . .

we met

we hugged hello . . . like old friends

we nattered

we picnicked

we nattered some more

we took lots of pics

we walked

we shared stories

we explored

we shopped

we ooh-ed and aah-ed over the beauty of Shugborough

we laughed . . . a L.O.T

oh, and did I mention, 

we nattered ?

Thank you Jane, Jacqui, Mel & Rosie  (and Paul, for the yummy Welsh cakes)

I so loved spending the day with you.

 Let's do it again soon . . .

Rosie, Mel, Jane & Jacqui  - a bench of bloggers . . .

miss you already ;-)

xoxo

A Winner, a Swap and another Bloggy Get-together . . .

I do so love a long weekend, but it really does throw me off kilter . . .  

Usually I work on a Monday, but Monday was a holiday and I worked on Tuesday instead. 

 So yesterday felt like a Monday but was actually a Tuesday, which means I woke up this morning thinking it was Tuesday but it's actually Wednesday (still with me ? )  - which is why when the alarm service guy arrived at the door for his scheduled appointment at 8.30am this morning, I greeted him with surprise . . . and still in my PJs . . . OOops. 

 I just pretended that I was expecting him, and hoped he'd think that it's really quite normal and acceptable to swan around in one's PJs sans make-up before 9am. 

 And hey, don't judge me - it could have been worse . . .
; - )

Right, enough about that and let's get on to more exciting things shall we ?

a Winner . . .

Thanks to everyone who commented on and entered the little giveaway in celebration of my 200th post.
 My resident Random Number Generator (aka The Hubby) selected comment #17 and the lucky winner is . . .

the lovely Joy from Joyjinks Creations,
all the way down under in beautiful Western Australia.

Congratulations Joy, and your Kate Dress pattern will be winging it's way south to you shortly.

Thanks again to Jules at Sew Me Something for your generosity in donating this fab giveaway - And if you can't contain your disappointment at not winning this time, remember all three of the lovely patterns are available at their online emporium - just pop over here.


a Swap . . .


Now a wee while ago, Jo over at Three Stories High organized a little Spring Brooch Swap and I was lucky enough to be paired up with Chrissie at Chrissie Crafts.  But Chrissie and I both had things happening around the swap date so we agreed to swap once life had calmed down a bit.  And last week, this fab little parcel of gorgeous goodies arrived in the post:

Thank you sooo much, Chrissie - I LOVE my pretty lace brooches and my special little puzzly one too : - )
And the chocs were dee-lish-ious . . .

I think this little brooch will be permanently attached to my favourite denim jacket for the season.

And thanks to Jo too for organizing this fun swap . . . can we do it again next Spring ?

. . . and another Bloggy Get-together.

Lovely Jane who blogs at Plain Jane is organising a get together of fellow bloggy peeps on Friday, 30th May 2014 at Shugborough Estate in Staffordshire. 
The plan is to meet up for a picnic and spend the day nattering and crafting and exploring this beautiful National Trust property.
Would you like to come along and join us?

 It'd be sooo lovely to see you.
So hop over to Jane's blog and leave her a wee comment or drop her an email if you'd like more details. 
And for my fellow Midlanders - I've got space in my car for another 3 peeps so if you'd like a lift, just let me know : -)

* * *

Right, I'm off to do some baking for Book Club tomorrow morning . . .
It is Thursday tomorrow, isn't it ?
; - )

'til next time,
xoxo