News & Updates from Joanna Swinton · Page 10

After driving out to Walsall Arboretum, we peacefully strolled round the park. Near the main entrance there is a beautiful old Victorian style house. It must have some use as it?s in very good condition.

Beside it is a lovely rose garden, but like most flowers at the moment, they are all asleep. There were plenty of people there as the weather was nice and mild. We walked down to the lake that?s full of a lot of different wildlife, mainly birds.

All of a sudden there was a massive commotion?.. oh no?? our 6 month old Westie pup Abby has walked through the vertical bars and was chasing the poor birds.

She was having a great time. No sooner had we got her out of there when she crossed to the other side of the path and there was an almighty splash!

Abby had jumped into the overflowing brook. Quickly we fished her out and she ran off sopping wet.

Not our best trip to a local park but our most eventful.

November is always highlighted in my diary along with March, for the Craft Show at the NEC. Just can?t get enough of it. This visit was a little different. It was much shorter than normal. Enough time to go round once and see what was there.

As always a visit to the £1 man is a must. If you spend £10 you can have 12 items. The bargains are incredible. There is always a selection of different paper packs, stamps, stick-on gems, templates, cards and glues. Lots of things seen in other places for much more than £1.

In the past they have had large punches and sizable stamp sets. If you ever visit the NEC, don?t miss this stall. Every year there seems to be a theme of what are the latest products and techniques.

A lot were demonstrating the glitter pastes spread over plastic stencils. There were a lot of different stencils on offer too.

The latest products were new style of dies. When used with an embossing machine, they cut and emboss at the same time. The results were stunning. They were very delicate and pretty. Really lovely. So why the rush to get home again? It?s all down to my 12 week old puppy. A beautiful white Westie called Abby.

We have had her for a month now and she is full of love. Of course her life is all about eating and playing. She is such a darling and makes us laugh such a lot. What a cutie! I'm just about to release a New From for these Dangle Front cards so watch this space for more to come

We have a new baby. She is so beautiful and very loving. She is a 9 week old white Westie. She is such a little dot but such a darling with her wagging tail. We don?t have a name for her yet.

We are looking for something short that can?t be shortened further. Please feel free to email me with suggestions. She is already picking up on the idea of going outside to the loo although there were lots of little spoonful sized messages all over the kitchen floor this morning.

When we came down she was nowhere to be found.

She was wedged behind the freezer. We had a mad hour of playtime, breakfast and now she has worn herself out. WE love her to bits.

I went to my daughters last Saturday to make cakes with my Granddaughter, Bella. Bella had other ideas. She decided that we would play and let Mummy make the cakes. They were lovely with all different sorts of toppings on.

Why do children find it necessary to get whatever they are eating all over their faces? At one stage it was dripping off the end of her chin. She does make me laugh. Following on from Santas Watching, I thought I'd make a few more. Cards with great value, 2 for 56p

On Sunday a beautiful fairy came to visit with her little brother. My Granddaughter Bella looked lovely in her fairy outfit and new slippers that we had just bought for her. She spread lots of laughter. Unfortunately, she has learnt the word we all dread?? Why?

Afterwards we went to the park. It?s her favourite place to go and the weather was very good, warm enough for her to just go out in the fairy outfit without a coat.

A great day for this time of the year. These lovely shaped cards are very popular as the finishing design is stunning.

I have put both of these on special offer with 30% off