a life update....

It's been a while since my last post so I thought I would give you an update on what has been going on behind the scenes.  Part of the reason for my lack of updates on here has been to do with being struck down by winter bugs, nothing too serious but I started with one bug which made me no good for anything other than wrapping up in the duvet and feeling sorry for myself and then as soon as I got over that I got struck down again! Hopefully that is me done with the winter bugs for this year at least! The upside was I got to watch the first two seasons of Homeland!

Thankfully I was well enough to celebrate my birthday and I went to see one of my favourite bands, Garbage and they were amazing, I had the best birthday. It was their 20 year anniversary tour, which makes me feel old as I saw them live on their very first tour! 

I've spent the rest of the time (when I've not been ill) keeping on top of orders, as well as making stock for No3 and the craft fairs I have booked. Unfortunately I had to drop out of the Little Fox Market this month due to illness which I was gutted about but I will be back there again before Christmas. I couldn't have picked a busier month to be out of action. I was well enough to do the two other craft fairs that I had booked for November and I got into the festive spirit with a range of Christmas decorations which have been popular.

My Stall at the Royston Craft Fair

My stall at the Radlett Winter Fair

Whilst I have been catching up there are a lot of things that are on my to do list that haven't happened, like keeping on top of my plans for this blog and keeping my online shop up to date. I started to beat myself up about this but there is not much I can do, I'm a one woman band. So once I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I started to plan 2016 whilst wrapped up in the duvet. Thinking about next year made me feel more positive and excited about what I have planned, but more about that in the new year! I hope in the meantime you won't be too upset with me if I'm a little sporadic on here until the end of the year whilst I get back on track with everything but I hope that normal service will resume soon.

Until the next time, I thought I would leave you with a bit of fun.  You may have seen the latest tag game on Facebook - 7 favourite songs over 7 days. A friend of mine nominated me to do this. Music is always playing in the craft den whilst I work and I love going to live gigs so I thought it would be fun to share my favourite songs with you as well....

Day 1 - Vow by Garage

As I went to see Garbage live recently, for day 1 I picked my favourite song from their first album....

Day 2 - Best of You, Foo Fighters

My favourite song by another awesome band who I've seen live more times than I can remember... (I love to rock!)

Day 3 - Great Things, Echobelly

Today's favourite was some motivation to do Great Things....

This is another band I saw live back in the 90s

Day 4 - Things Can Only Get Better, D:Ream

By this point I was in my sick bed so to cheer myself up here is my 4th song....

Day 5 - Chasing Cars, Snow Patrol.

This was our first dance at our wedding....

I've seen these live too in the amazing venue of the Royal Albert Hall.

Day 6 - Two More Years, Bloc Party

It would have been our first dance had it not been about getting over a break up!

I've not seen them live but would like to.

Day 7 - Keep the Faith, Bon Jovi

For my final song I have chosen a great anthem by Bon Jovi. This was the first album of theirs I bought many years ago and I have seen them live so many times since then!

I hope you have enjoyed this little insight into what I listen to in the craft den, what are your favourite songs?

fizzi~jayne x

As featured on wayfair.co.uk....

I'm so excited that wayfair.co.uk have featured my Christmas card string and peg tutorial on their website! Click on the badge below to see all the fab tutorials featured to get your home feeling Christmassy.  Which one will you do?

Or you can go straight to my tutorial here 

fizzi~jayne x

A first....

Last month I launched the latest #CraftBlogClub challenge which, for a change, was a blogging one. The topic is "Firsts", all the details can be found over here but the topic was left quite open for us to interpret how we choose.

The topic got me thinking about my first craft fair (but I write a lot about craft fairs and I thought you might fancy a change), my first time hosting #CraftBlogClub, my first crochet project (but I've already blogged about that here), If I had taken pictures of the very first cards I made you could have had a laugh at them.  In the end I decided I would share something different with you, nothing crafty or business related but about my first race!

Race For Life 2006

I started to run back in 2002 when I started my first proper job after university.  I've never been sporty but I needed to lose the excess weight gained from cheap pints and late night takeaways! 

My colleague had started running and signed up for the Race for Life and encouraged me to do the same.  Race for Life happens every year across the UK and it started as a 5km which you can walk, run or jog, there are now various distances you can take part in.  I don't have any pics from that day back in June 2003 but I remember I really enjoyed it, well, I must have done as I went on to run 3 more!

I have gone on since to run 10km and even the Great South Run which is 10 miles.  Over the years I have raised money for various charities - Cancer Research UK, The Alzheimer's Society, Bloodwise and The Stroke Association.  

Bupa London 10km 2010

Bupa London 10km 2011

Bupa London 10k 2015

Great South Run, Portsmouth. 2012

After running 10 miles, I fell out of love with running for a while. I think the pain in my knees and the rest of my body had something to do with that!  After a 2 year break I joined a running club as I was starting to miss it but I needed some motivation.  

Since joining the club I have taken part in another 10km and I have another one booked for January 2016 plus I take part in the local ParkRun when I have a free Saturday.  

I intend to apply for the Great North Run when the ballot opens for next year, I may not get in but if I do, it will be a challenge! The Great North Run has been on my bucket list even before I became a runner. I went to university in Newcastle and for some bizarre reason the love I have for the city makes me want to run 13.1 miles?! I think it is also because I can't believe I would be able to do it, but I strongly believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

I'm by no means a skinny girl, I jiggle (a lot) when I run, but the accomplishment I felt after completing my first race has kept me running and entering more races.  I hope it shows that anyone can run, really they can! If you can put one foot in front of the other you can run, it doesn't matter how slow you are or if you have to walk part of the distance, it is still further than sitting on the sofa.

What I love about running is it takes me out of my comfort zone, into the fresh air and gives me some me time.  Although my first love will always be craft I have had some of my best ideas whilst running so it is an important part of my routine.

I hope you have enjoyed this post and the embarrassing photos! 

Did you join in with this challenge? 

I can't wait to read your post, please link your blog post below and don't forget to mention #CraftBlogClub and link back to this blog in your post.  

As we have often chatted about how we don't make enough time to comment on blogs, it would be great if you check out everyone's posts and comment on at least one of them.

I hope you will join me in our Twitter chat on 3rd November at 7pm (GMT) where we will be chatting about our firsts and sharing our posts.

Before I sign off my fellow co-host, Katie, has launched our Secret Santa challenge! It's probably one of my favourites, I love making gifts and receiving happy mail.  If you would like to join in please visit Katie's blog here where you will find the details of how to sign up which you will need to do by 8pm on 5th November 2015.

fizzi~jayne x