Jack Frost nipping at my toes...

... nose, hands, feet and everything in between!   I was shivering on Thursday in Chester - it was FREEZING.    I even resorted to wearing a hat, something I never do. 

But it has now warmed up thank goodness.  I had a friend staying for a couple of days which was really nice,  it  also helped perk mum up.  In Chester we, me and my mate Conny, enjoyed a lovely Christmas dinner at the Victoria pub,  and when I say delicious I really mean it. Home cooked and locally sourced produce. 

I've also been enjoying opening up some early Christmas presents in the form of swaps,  and everyone has included some extra bits and bobs which have come as a lovely surprise.   My own swap has been a bit delayed,  but it is now almost complete. 

Today it was up to the craft shop to invest in a new versamark stamp pad, the two I had were way beyond their best.  While I was there I

invested in a Stamps Away blending mat,  and I love it.  Already made use of it and I can say it does make life much easier when blending, not tried it with the brayer yet.  I also got a bargain, this Tim Holtz die reduced from £16.95 to £9.95.   This example has been embossed, frantaged and then coated with utee.   I'm still waiting for the other die to come,  the seller took ages to send through the postage details - and I went back to look at the original sale and it did say free postage!  Oh well, hopefully it will arrive on Monday, but I won't be bothering with that seller again.

In the above photo is the new stamp I got... can't resist stamps!  I used a mix of embossing powders, it  hasn't photographed very well sadly, will try again tomorrow. Sort of got behind today as my cousin called in,  but nice to catch up with her. 

And here is the Christmas tree!   Conny helped me rescue the decs from the loft and then assisted with all the putting ups.  So the flat now looks a lot cheerier,   even mum's mood brightened a little.   She's still not too good and is now off her food,   I was supposed to be going to a party tomorrow, but think I'll stay at home,   I'm not really in the party mood anyway. 

My knee is still very sore,  hobbling around Chester probably wasn't a good idea,  although we were taking time out to keep warm in various coffee shops.   I thought maybe I'd get in the mood for some Christmas shopping, but really didn't feel like it,  so it is the old Amazon vouchers again this year.

Will have to get cracking on a few things tomorrow,   mum's card, for which I need that new die!   And get Xmas cards in the post. 

All for now,  hope you are all having an enjoyable weekend.   See you tomorrow.