A Trip to Bristol (ish) - Winford & Weston-Super-Mare

Remember the weekend trip to Bristol I took earlier this month? Well, after spending Saturday wandering round central Bristol I headed out of the city and spent Sunday in Somerset. 
 
I spent the night on my crafty chum Lisa's (very comfy!) sofa and in the morning, we went for a walk around her village...

  

... and went to the village shop.

 

Then we drove to Weston-Super-Mare to meet up with our friend Nicola for our first get-together in about three years. I'd never been to Weston before so it was great to go for a walk around town and along the beachfront, although the weather was a bit miserable!

 

 

The summer attractions were all looking a little sad and empty...

... but there were quite a few people out for a walk with their (happy and excited but very windswept) dogs.

 

Lisa, Nicola and I have been friends for years (after meeting via Etsy sometime in 2007, 2008?) so it was great to chat about life and Etsy and crafting and generally catch up over a cuppa or three!

Can you tell how chilly it was from the photo? :)

Retail Therapy

As I mentioned yesterday, Royal Mail's postage prices are going up quite a bit in April (boo). Bad times for small businesses and designer/makers who sell online, but a great excuse to do a bit of shopping before the rates go up!

I've treated myself to one of these gorgeous lavender bunnies from Pouch...

... and an awesome tray from Hazel Nicholls.

If you've bought something from me lately your parcel may well have been sealed with some of Hazel's sticky tape (which I blogged about last year), her designs are so much fun. Hazel is actually having a spring sale at the moment - enter the code MARCHMADNESS Update: enter the code MMADNESS at checkout to get  35% off your order until 9am (UK time) on March 15th.

Pouch and Teasemade Giveaway Winners

The winner of the Rudolf decoration from Pouch is...

Sarka who said... "He's adorable".

And the winner of the love token brooch from Teasemade is...

Michelle, who said... "What a beautiful giveaway :)"

Giveaway: Rudolf Decoration from Pouch

Today's giveaway is from Nicola of Pouch, who recently shared her love of Clothkits as part of my guest post series.


Nicola says, "I love vintage fabric and crafting eco friendly products. Via my online store , I sell a range of vintage fabric bags, purses, accessories and housewares. I also like to blog about vintage finds, my latest crafting project, share interesting eco websites and champion the handmade movement here in the UK and worldwide."


She's currently having a sale in her Etsy store, with many items reduced by 30-40% or more.


You can read about Nicola's work and her love of all things vintage on her blog, or follow Pouch on Facebook.

Nicola is giving away one of her new Rudolf decorations:


Rudolf is handmade with vintage fabric in shades of amber orange, chocolate brown, pure white and jet black. He's filled with non-allergenic stuffing and has wool felt detailing in shades of chocolate and toffee brown. His look is completed with a bright red button nose. He is 14cm (5.5 inches) tall from his toes to the tip of his antlers.

If you're in the UK or elsewhere in the EU, you can also opt to have a "warm spice" Rudolf, part-filled with Nicola's own delicious blend of star anise, cinnamon and cloves for a yummy festive aroma (the scented version cannot be shipped outside of the EU due to customs regulations).

For your chance to win, just leave a comment on this blog post. Nicola is happy to ship internationally, so anyone can enter but please remember that you will be responsible for any customs charges if you live outside the UK. Leave your comment before 10pm on Friday 11th November (UK time) and I'll pick the winner at random on Saturday 12th November.

Please leave a name or pseudonym and include a blog link, Twitter or Etsy username, or email address so I can contact you (if I'm unable to contact the winner within two weeks, I will have to pick someone else so please make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch). I'll then pass your details on to Nicola so she can send your prize.

UPDATE: this giveaway is now closed.