DECEMBER - FESTIVE FEELS AT THE END OF A YEAR OF 'JUBILATION'...

Happy December!

This month's wallpaper has all the festive feels...
'After a long, frosty drive home with a Christmas tree on board, the warmest welcome comes from a very good boy with a happy, waggy tail.'
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​​then here's a link to where to join my mailing list:

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November saw the welcome return of a long held tradition in our town.
The Bridgwater Carnival was back in full procession after 2 Covid years of restrictions.

 This year was even more special because many of the local Carnival clubs had teamed up to create a very special cart, showcased to the world at the Queens Platinum Jubilee Pageant.  

When I was asked by The Crafty Collective Gift Shop to help them create some gifts to help mark this historical occasion for our town, I fully embraced the opportunity.  

The Carnival Clubs that had created the 'Jubilation' cart and the walking procession had done our town proud and deserved the chance to have a lovely choice of celebratory souvenirs to mark the occasion and remember an amazing day....
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​I got to work and created an image of the Jubilation Cart along with some icons of the people in costume, royal symbols to represent our late Queen, and symbols of our town -which includes 'The Spirit of Carnival' statue holding a sparkling squib overhead from the era of Guy Fawkes - where the story of our town's Carnival began...
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The idea was to create something that summed up the atmosphere of that day - afternoon tea, partying and a right Royal celebration.

The team at The Crafty Collective  were able to take my imagery and apply them to mugs, coasters and banners & I supplied some wall art prints. This Carnival season was all about 'Jubilation' and I'm told plenty of mugs were used to help stay warm on Carnival night, which is what it was all about!...

Best of all was getting to see the Jubilation Cart up close myself, to give them all the warmest welcome home after parading down the Mall in the summer.

The end of the November also saw 'Colour Friday' the alternative to 'Black Friday' - where we encourage support of small businesses that bring colour, variety and independence to our High Streets. By supporting small and local businesses you help invest in people and communities that enhance our towns and cities.

A project like this 'Jubilation' one is a great example of this - small businesses working collaboratively to offer something special, unique and relevant to their communities...
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With few days left for Christmas shopping, please remember that when you shop with small businesses you are investing in so much more than just the item you purchase!

The 'Jubilation' mugs and coasters are still available to order online from The Crafty Collective Bridgwater using the link below - if you are local to Bridgwater, as these items can be ordered online and collected in store:

https://thecraftycollective.square.site/product/jubilation-mug/409?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=52 

  
Before I sign off, I do need to make you aware of my last posting dates for Christmas.
My Etsy shop will remain open over the festive period, but will be on holiday shipping timescales (2-3 weeks) as I will be taking a break from Friday 16th until 4th January.  Business will return to usual timings on the 4th Jan and all orders placed between the 16th Dec and 4th Jan will be shipped from the 4th Jan.

Please also be aware that there are continued Royal Mail strikes planned throughout December.  My shops rely on Royal Mail for delivery and are already experiencing some delays in getting items delivered.  

​UPDATE 5/12/22 :As of 5th Dec, Royal Mail announced that they are bringing their last post dates for Christmas forward by a few days, please see the revised image above as many deadlines have passed or are about to pass.

​Please be patient, orders are getting through - there are extraordinary volumes of post at this time of year, being handled by humans all the way along the chain. What's needed  is patience and kindness - the true spirit of Christmas!

All that's left to say is I wish you all
a very lovely, happy, healthy, peaceful
Christmas and Holidays!
Best Wishes