'Shop Local This Christmas!'

I always think that at Christmas time it is a good time to try and 'whip back in time' to a period like the 1980's when trips to your local The Town Centre or to Kings Road (if you are from Hastings) were all the rage as far as Christmas shopping was concerned.  Back then we all mainly 'shopped local' aside from the odd day trip to somewhere like Brighton or London and as a result probably knew most of our local shop keepers and traders. While online shopping is much more convenient it lacks that 'personal touch' and you really do feel good when you spend money in a local shop and see how happy your custom and support makes the owners!

This said, I do have to admit that there are some items these days that due to the loss of a lot of our High Street shops it is virtually impossible to buy 'the old fashioned way' now. One of the exceptions though are Christmas cards and in many cases (as you see here) if you take a walk around your local area you will find a good many fascinating and great value craft shops!

Take a look at these wonderful, beautifully made Christmas cards I picked up in Bexhill the other day, for example! Hand made out of really sturdy card they each feature really traditional, heartwarming Christmassy designs and have plenty of room for you to write a few words to loved ones in as well as a simple festive message inside. You won't get cards as nice nor anywhere near as good value (these were just 60p each!) in any of the 'chain' card shops you know and certainly not online!

The shop I bought them from is called 'Thingamjigz' and is run by two nice ladies who always greet you with a smile. It is in The Mall in Western Road and features a whole host of other cards, craft items and potential gift ideas so why not pop along, get yourself a bargain or two AND save yourself some money!

And yes, I do know that many of you no longer send 'proper' Christmas cards! You 'go digital' and see  one of those amazing 'Jacquie Lawson' animated cards instead. Well, I must admit they are fantastic and always nice to receive but in my experience you don't get the same 'festive feel' that you pick up when 'sorting out' who to send which one to that you definitely get when you interact with real people in a real life scenario! Postage costs are a 'passion killer' these days I grant you but you must admit surely that it is always special when you receive a hand written Christmas card from family or friends from afar rather than just an animated one in your inbox.

As I am very definitely 'old school' I will never give up on sending our real cards - even if the postage costs do make me wince! The next time you begrudge sending someone a real card or buying them a present just think for a moment about how your life would be if that person was not there anymore? Christmas is always a 'double edged sword' as far as thinking of people is concerned so make sure you do all you can while you can to let those in your life you care about that you love them is my motto!

I will understand though if you try not to befriend any new people who live in the U.S, Canada or Australia! (lol)

'A Visit To A Christmas Craft Fair At Last!'

Well my friends, it seems that I missed my beloved St Clements Church Christmas Fair this year! In spite of searching the Internet, making phone calls and posting on Facebook I was unable to find out when it was and so my 'favourite festive trigger' failed to fire for me this year...

My bag of 50p pieces and I did manage to go to TWO Christmas Fairs today, however! The first was a Craft Fair at Kings Church near The Conquest Hospital. There were some LOVELY, Christmassy items on sale and some fabulous stalls but (as ever) I was left rather frustrated by the fact that i have no-one to give most such items to for presents and with over 5,000 records, CD's, books etc, etc in my ONE ROOM at home have nowhere to store anything I'd like just for me even if I could afford it!

I got chatting to a lovely lady on the first stall I saw and shared a few of my 'ill advised these days' 70's jokes about relationships. It was her mum's stall and I asked if I could take a few photos of some of the magical things she had for sale. Thankfully, I was allowed to do this (though I think the flash on my camera is broken - boo!) and so you can take a look for yourselves now...

I LOVE the two little cushions and the 'Baa Humbug' cards were such fun! Everything on this stall in fact was beautifully made and I asked for a business card as IF I ever get the chance to do the artwork for my 'Mr. Christmas' album this lady may be worth commissioning to do some custom made pieces for use with the album sleeve etc. I gave the two ladies a copy of my 'Timeless' album for being so nice and all in all it was a typically Christmassy experience for me - my first real chance to enter into the Christmas spirit this year! Here if you are also enamoured is a pic of the lady in questions business card...

After I left Kings Church I went onto the annual Christmas Fair at The Holy Redeemer in Upper Church Rd, Hollington. It was the usual combination of festive fair, Father Christmas, bric-a-brac and raffles but (ironically) all I bought in the end was a few cheap CD's! Christmas is a time of the year I love but it is rarely easy for me as shopping for gifts often brings home to me the fact that I am still single. I'm pretty good at 'being in my own company' but there are times when it would be nice to have a girlfriend/wife and a family of my own to REALLY fire up my Christmassy side...Mind you, if most of this 'unattained as yet' family should turn out to be as BAH HUMBUG like as most of my British relatives ( NOT you lot in good old Australia - Trevor and co!) then maybe I'm better off on my own! (lol)

Oh well, let's hope I can get into top Christmas gear soon, eh? To finish today, here is a lovely Christmas song I recently discovered...

'Home Made Christmas Cards'

I love to buy home-made Christmas cards. They are so much nicer than the kind you get in packs of 10, 20 or 50 from the supermarkets... They are usually blank inside or simply have the message 'Merry Christmas' and so they are ideal for sending off to loved ones in far distant places because you have plenty of room in which to write a few words about your life and times at present and that encourages you to re-kindle happy memories from the past. 

The biggest snag with buying such beautiful designs is, however, that often you like them so much you don't want to get rid of them! For a natural hoarder like me that can be a BIG problem so I have to be disciplined and force myself to use the cards I have bought for the purpose I originally bought them. 

It ALWAYS takes me ages writing my Christmas cards because I am also in the habit of buying loads of Christmassy stickers with which to decorate the inside of the cards and their envelopes. Talk about a BIG KID I just LOVE messing about with stickers and trying to add a few laughs for people by drawing speech bubbles by characters. As soon as any of my cards hit your doormat you know who its from!

The pictures you see here are some of this years cards. I had a real job getting myself to part with these because I think they are amongst the nicest cards I have ever bought. I got them at a Christmas Fair (bootsale or craft fair) out in the countryside last year and have kept them in a safe place ever since. 
That is sometimes a good tactic when it comes to buying your Christmas cards as, love or hate them, Christmas cards can be quite expensive to buy and so if you get the chance right near Christmas to stock up for next year at bargain prices it makes good sense to do so. They always come wrapped in protective film anyway so they won't go yellow or discoloured.

Home made Christmas cards are so more personal and lovely than 'standard issue' cards and I love the fact that I can say exactly what I want inside rather than have to scrawl a few words around the cliches. Christmas is a time for connection and thinking about friends from the past and the present who are miles away now for one reason or another and sending them a really nice card makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!