and the winner is......

 a drumroll please for Madalene Mudpie who was voted in to take the plunge

 ...and for our independent adjudicator, Jefrey Jefrey...

 Madalene preparing for the dive...

...blindfolded to prevent any peeking...

...and in she goes...

...she's got one!...

and the winner is....

!!!!KATHRYN DAVIDSON!!!!

Congratulations Kathryn :) Please get in touch with me with your contact details (either here or via my facebook page) and puppety preferences

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Moo's matryoshka :)

Some Russian dolls for a birthday present 

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The great BIG getting to 446 likers on facebook giveaway!!!

Yes, you read that right - 446 people officially like my facebook page and I reckon that a number like that warrants a giveaway ;-)

So, if you want to be in with a chance of winning a puppet of your own customerising, keep reading... and if you don't, then you should probably go and find something else to do now cos you'll probably find the rest of this post quite boring!

The catch! - none of this 'just like and share' malarkey I'm afraid, you're gonna have to work for your prize cos I'm tight like that, so what you have to do is, first, pop over to my shop and come back and tell me in the comments bit here what your favourite item is and why (you can even buy it if you want to, I'm okay with that too ;-)) 

And then secondly, because I'm a little bit running out of ideas for names and descriptions now and I'm a little bit lazy, you need to tell me what your puppet would be called and what their most favouritest thing EVER would be.

So there you go, not too difficult really is it. I will select a winner randomly by some random method or other next Saturday (11th May) 8pm

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Oh and one other thing, which should really go without saying but there's always one (at least), Anonymous comments will not be entered into random selctiony thingy because if I don't know who you are then it's kind of hard to find you to tell you've won!

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Oh and one other other thing if you want to share this around for me that would be very superdeeduper but it's not compulsory ;-)

I might be a little bit in love with...

....crocodile stitch...

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Boo! It's Sparkly!

A little bit later than planned as I had a bit of a rush on puppets last week, but as promised another talented artist to share with you - this week, the lovely Ali Crick of 

Boo it's Sparkly!

Ali does fab stuff with glass, mostly painting...

but also some beautiful mosaic glass lanterns and candle holders

 Stepping away from the more traditional *bride and groom* wedding type glassware, Boo it's Sparkly offers something a little bit different 

and a little bit special

mostly inspired by nature especially 'trees - each branch, twig, strip of bark having it's own unique pattern and impact on the world' 

Ali started glass painting about 5 years ago, but has always been 'a little bit crafty' :)

Boo it's Sparkly has grown out of that delicious craftiness and hopefully will continue to do so.

If you like what you've seen here, please go and check out the 

Boo it's Sparkly facebook page

and if you live in the Hereford area, watch out for Boo it's Sparkly! at a craft fayre near you.

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Rugazzled!

Over the next few weeks, I am hoping to feature the talents of some other artists and crafters that I am lucky enough to know.

To start us off,  I asked the lovely Julie of Rugazzled to tell us a bit about her very gorgeous rugs and wall hangings...

"My name is Julie Napier and I am the executive creator of "Rugazzled", a business I started up a year ago. I create decorative rugs and wall hangings, art for your floors and walls.

I am a hoarder of beautiful things and would make rugs for friends and family, and it was suggested that I start up a business out of it.

All my creations are made completely by hand with no machinery involved and all is environmentally friendly.

I get inspiration from life itself and the beauty of nature.

I started off making rugs from recycled materials, turning materials that seemed to have lost their value and which had no further use, into something that would become a wanted item, but my passion for beautiful fabrics got hold of me and I now search for luxuriously soft, rich fabrics.

I really love what I do and hope you love them too."

I do love them - lots!!

and am even lucky enough to own one...

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If you like what you've seen here, please check out Rugazzled's online shop and etsy shop and pop over and say hi on their facebook page

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In the garden...

We still have snow in bits of our garden but we've had some blue skies and sunshine as well this week 

^^^ look at that proper blue that is ^^^ 

flowers have been showing their faces...

and the garden has been attracting all sort of visitors...

...some of which have migrated to my shop now

*squirrel not included ;o)