Wednesday 19 December 2012

Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes!


Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes!

Christmas is a time for family and especially children, big and little, old and young alike and for me, nothing says family time and childhood like good old fairy tales and nursery rhymes, so I thought I'd look through some of the Folksy shops and see what fairy tale and nursery rhyme inspired items I could find!

Story Time Gallery!

Here are just a few of the tonnes of beautiful items I found.
Please just click on the pictures to be transported to a magical fairy tale world of wonder and imagination.

A world of fairy tales and magic!

My, What big teeth you have Grandma!


Rumple Stiltskin's quest for Gold!


All good fairy tales have a magical fairy castle!


All the King's Men couldn't put him back together again!

Luckily London Bridge isn't falling down at the moment!


Fee Fi Fo Fum!  Climb the Bean stalk in this hat Jack!


Thank you for indulging my Childhood memories and hopefully they have rekindled some of yours!

Tuesday 11 December 2012

December Jingles!


Jingle All the Way!

So sorry to have taken so long to say goodbye to the November Rockets and hello to the December Jingles, our new daily listing club for the month of December, but it has been a mega rush both in a business sense and personally, with pre Christmas Craft Fairs and markets and concluding the day job, as I am being made redundant from the end of December, so there has been some finalisations to see to and a mega list of notification emails to send out, but following this I shall have more time for myself, until I find another job that is, a daunting prospect, especially given the current economic climate.

Hey Ho, or should I say Ho Ho Ho as we move forward to Christmas!  But we need to say a fond farewell to November, which was a very successful daily listing club, with a grand total of 816 collective sales for the month and our Star Rocket was Susan of thedotterypotter with an amazing personal total of 77 sales all of her own. 

The December Jingles have been merrily jingling all the way and have commenced the month with a sleigh ride of sales already, we are only on the 11th of December and already have a jingle-tastic 387 collective sales as of 9.30 this morning!!!!!

Dashing Jingle Gallery!

I thought it might be lovely to have a sleigh ride together through some of the shops taking part in the December Jingles and showcase some of their gorgeous creations already displayed for our appreciation.

If you would like a closer look, please just click on the picture and dash all the way to the shop in question, where you will see further delights!

  

   

    

  

  

I hope we all have a merry and bright December and that you have enjoyed my gallery today!

Saturday 17 November 2012

Folksy Tree Decorations.


Dressing the Tree!

It dawned on me that we will be getting the Christmas tree and decorations out of the loft in about a months time, so thought it would be timely to show you some lovely tree decorations available on Folksy, from some truly talented crafters!

Beaded, Ceramic, Glass, Fabric and Yarn!  
Something for every taste and colour scheme, so please click on the decorations featured to jingle all the way to the grotto, sorry, shop in question, where these wonderful creations sparkle and decorate the shop pages.








I hope you have enjoyed my little reminder that the festive season will soon be upon us and will check out these wonderful shops for yourself.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

Wood Works!


Tree Hugger!

Anybody else love Wood!?!

I think I am a tree hugger, without the dreadlocks or Swappy hashtag, but defo a wood lover, no euphemism intended!

I just love mother nature, she is amazing.  I adore fossils and gemstones and equally wood, both in its natural and worked with state, so thought I would share some creations that are made from wood and inspired by it too. to show you today!

Please just click on the pictures to 'twig' which shop and creator is behind them, and 'branch' out to see the other amazing items that are available.








I hope you have enjoyed my featured items and will visit the forests, sorry, shops in question.

Thank you!

Friday 9 November 2012

Folksy Friday! Men's Cards!


Card's for Men!

Is it only me that finds it hard to locate cards for men?!?  Well since I joined Folksy I no longer have this concern, cards in abundance for our lovely guys, be they big or little, father or son, friend or dare I say it foe!

I do find that I stock pile cards, so I always have one to hand in readiness for the birthday or occasion that creeps up on me unexpectedly, because lets face it, time is moving much quicker these days, I turn around and a week has gone by in a flash!

So have decided to showcase some Gent's cards for you today from my Folksy friends, perfect for all occasions and ideal to pop away for that upcoming event you may have coming up, as the boy scout say, 'be prepared!'

Card Gallery!

Please just click on the picture to be flown, shipped, flicked or shot across to the shop in question, where you can not only see these gorgeous cards in all their glory, but many more you may want to pop into your card stock pile.





Thank you for visiting my Folksy Friday today and I hope you have found a card perfect for your little or large man of the house.

Friday 2 November 2012

November Rockets!


Goodbye October Optimists - Hello November Rockets!

We have come to the end of another month and therefore need to say goodbye to the October Optimists Daily Listing Club, who forged onwards, ever in search of more creative endeavours, ever optimistic that even in these difficult economic times, people would be in search of quality gifts as we approach the Christmas festive season, and were rewarded in a fantastic collective sales tally of 449 sales in total, with the wonderful Susan of the Dottery Pottery who bagged an amazing 68 sales all on her own.

November Rockets!

Onward and literally upwards with the November Rockets daily listing club!

The daily listers voted for a favourite name for the month ahead and felt that Rockets would be a good name, as we race forward in our endeavours and ever upwards in our aims to create sparkling and show stopping crafts to stun and amaze all.

Rocket Gallery!

Our Galaxy Quest has already begun and the first day alone saw 19 collective sales!  So thought it might be advisable to let you see some of the stunning creations already available within the November Rockets Display!

Please just click on the picture to light to blue touch paper, then stand back and you'll be whooshed across to the item display in question!








I hope you have enjoyed our first Rocket display, I am sure there will be many more to come!

Thursday 1 November 2012

A City Break to Rome!


Rome was not Traversed in a Day!

My wonderful husband Andy and I at long last managed our planned city break to Rome.  The trip was supposed to be a celebration of his 50th Birthday in March and our 20th Wedding Anniversary in April, but due to family commitments and much more, the trip was delayed and eventually we got to go in October and a wonderful trip it was too, full of sight seeing, walking, sore feet and eating and drinking wonderful fare.

We stayed in a little family run hotel in Rome The Kennedy Hotel which was just perfect for our needs.  Small and friendly, we had a little double room with fabulous views over a pretty plaza and some Roman ruins, this is the view from our window.


What could be more pleasing to wake up to in the morning!

We were very well located, just around the corner from the termini, trains, metro, buses and trams, so links to anywhere we wanted to go, but in fact we only used it once, as we preferred to walk everywhere, to which my tender feet can testify, but the beautiful architecture and fabulous views more than compensated, plus of course the many cafes and restaurants, with their wonderful coffee and delicious pasta dishes, made extremely welcome resting spots.

In fact after the first day of very sore feet, I discovered that a glass of white wine and an espresso with lunch, made the ache more bearable! Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Hubby on the other hand had an occasional beer!


This beverage came in various sizes, Andy made the mistake the first evening in asking for a large beer, which I can only describe as being served in a vase, I think it was a full litre!!!!  Took all his strength to lift the glass / vase!

We had been for a long evening walk around the area surrounding our hotel, just to get our bearings and picked our some venues to visit during the day light hours, the only problem being, this did in for my feet before our first full day, however, I did discover a fabulous use for the bidet in our bathroom, it made a wonderful foot spa, much to the amusement of my husband!

Day One!

The next day was our first full day in Rome, and we planned to walk in a meandering way to the Colloseum, our route took us past some wonderful churches, beautiful narrow little streets and opened into this wonderful archaeological site where we saw this amazing column, Trajan's column which was erected in 113 AD in honour of emperor Trajan. 
 The column commemorates his victories in Dacia (now Romania).  
The column is located at Trajan's forum - part of the Imperial Forumns at the Via dei Fori Imperiali, right next to the Piazza Venezia.  

Trajan's Market, a large complex of warehouses, shops and offices where the Romans would gather to purchase goods and conduct business, was built between 107 and 110 AD by the Emperor Trajan's favourite architect, Apollodorus of Damascus. 

Whilst we we standing in awe and looking at these wonderful buildings, a little Roman Gentleman came over and chatted to us about the area and its history and of his own history living in Rome during many decades, he was a font of information and very scathing of some other nations, which I won't divulge, I think he was just happy to have someone to chat to and as we up and about early, he had a captive audience.

The Flavian Amphitheatre


We eventually wandered down to the vast area that houses the Colloseum, but prior to joining the throngs now starting to build, we stopped and had a fortifying espresso and latte for my hubby, he's such a coffee light weight. LOL!

A touch of history for you!

Emperor Vespasian, founder of the Flavian Dynasty, started construction of the Colosseum in 72 AD. It was completed in 80 AD, the year after Vespasian's death.





We spent over two hours in the Colloseum alone, there was just so much to explore and many, many, many steps to climb!

Before we decided to explore the Palentine Gardens, we wandered back to our friendly restaurant and had some gorgeous pasta, and yes you guessed it, more yummy coffee!

History time again!

The Emperors and aristocrats of ancient Rome lived on the Palatine Hill, right back to the first century BC.  

Just in front of the Palentine gardens and beside the Collesum is the Arch of Constantine.  After years of civil war, the victory of Constantine's army over the numerically superior army of Maxentius, at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD brought some peace to the Roman empire.
To commemorate this victory, the Senate of Rome awarded Constantine a Triumphal arch. It was dedicated just a few years later, in 315 AD.

You can see some of the Palentine gardens behind.

And here is a view showing some of the catacombs too.


Following a full day of exploring these wonderful sites, we wandered back to our hotel, by a more direct route, made much easier with the map supplied by the hotel and the fact that every road, street and Via or Vialle, had the name carved into a plaque on the side of the first building of the road!  No need to search for road signs.

Day Two!

On Day two we decided the tackle visiting the Vatican city, as feet were still tender from the day before, Hubby thought it would be a good idea to use the metro, no bad thing in that it only cost us three Euros between us, extremely good value, the problem being that to walk to our metro platform took forever, LOL!  We thought we might actually be walking underground to the Papal See!  LOL!

Once on the train we had a feeling of deja-vu, we could have been on the Circle line in London, just as packed and taking your life into your hands to get on.  However, I managed to get a seat for one stop, but then a little old Nun got on and I could not sit there whilst she stood, so I gave my seat up for her and hung onto my hubby for support again!  

When we got to the Vatican, the queue to get in went all around the square, so we made the decision not to join the throng, enjoy the view and move on, obviously you need get there at the crack of dawn, we'll save that for another trip to Rome, as I am sure we'll be coming back.

So instead we wandered down the main Via, if you like the Mall of the Papal See and came across a gorgeous church which was open, so we decided to pop inside and check it out, sorry don't know the name of it, but it was so hushed, cool and lovely inside, that we decided to sit and take in our bearings before exploring, good thing we did as a few people gathered towards the front and a mass began.  Andy and I sat respectfully and listened, obviously not understanding a word, when all of a sudden we realised that what we had taken to be a small table near the alter was actually a coffin, we were only sitting through someones funeral!  Well there was no way we could get up now, so we sat through the service and stood to watch the coffin leave and waited for a good five minutes afterwards before we dared to move from the pews.

I hope the family did not mind!

When everyone had gone, we had a look around this wonderful church, I think you'll agree it is beautiful!



Castel Sant'Angelo



Following on from our interesting experience we moved onto the Castel Sant'Angelo, which was recently highlighted in the Film Angels and Demons the sequel to the De'Vinci Code.



History time!

Castel Sant'Angelo, an imposing building on the right bank of the Tiber river has had a turbulent history. The Castel Sant'Angelo was originally built by Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum. Construction started in 123 A.D. the building functioned first as a mausoleum, then became part of the city wall and later was turned into a fortress before it functioned as a papal residence and finally as a barracks and military prison. It is currently a national museum.

Well it was just amazing!  Fabulous fort for the little boy in my husband, wonderful museum for the knowledge and trivia sponge in me and to cap it all it had a fantastic restaurant with views over the Vatican!  Yummy in both aspects!



We spent hours here!  Took millions of photo's but I won't bore you with tonnes of them, as they are more of interest to the brick, tunnel and structure fanatic then the normal class of person!  LOL!

From here we decided to just wander and see where it led us and where it led us was to the Piazza Di Spagna or the Spanish Steps to the rest of us.  From having wandered through fairly quiet streets it was a shock to see how busy it was at the steps.


Needless to say we did not try to fight our way through the throng and just enjoyed the view from a distance.  I'm sure the tourists are just picked up in mass and dropped at the famous sites and miss all the wonderful views and vista's in between, which is their loss, as we saw such beautiful architecture and met some lovely genuine people.

Just around the corner from the Spanish step, set in a tiny Piazza is the Trevi Fountain!

An amazing construction, just huge and very imposing, you just can't get that from a picture, I was stunned when I saw it.  Again it was thronged with sight seers, so we could not get close, but as it is so large you can't help but get a good view of it.  What I can say is there was a very nice cafe just around the corner that had the most scrummy chocolate ice cream and espresso, just right to fortify me for the walk back to the hotel!

Day Three and our last day!

For our last day, we decided to stay close to the hotel, having wandered far and wide on the first two days.  Literally around the corner was the Piazza della Repubblic and the Basillica St Mary of the Angels, an amazing church designed by Michelangelo no less.




And just popping across a couple of roads the Baths of Diocletian and the amazing museum it has been turned into.


Proof positive that I would have made a great Roman lady, I too have a long body and short legs!  LOL!
Not to mention a great Roman nose!


And Finally after a long trek we stopped for lunch outside the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, this wonderful church was literally just 5 minutes away from our hotel!

The Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is the largest church in Rome dedicated to the Virgin Mary.


Sorry this is sideways on, but just take a look at the ceiling!


Hubbies camera died when in the Church, so we used the video camera, unfortunately, although we will enjoy looking at the film, I won't subject you to it, as Andy has the habit of walking and filming at the same time, which would make you a bit sea sick!

Any way, I think I have gushed on enough about our lovely trip to Rome and I am positive we will be returning again in the near future, if and when the funds become available.

I hope you have not minded me rambling on and have too enjoyed in a small way this little ode to Rome.