International blogging

"What are you doing this weekend,Deb?" They asked as I switched my computer off at the end of work on Friday. "I've got some friends coming over on Saturday to do some Scrapbooking. It's going to be great to meet them in person." Raised eyebrows and a look that says "you've invited people over and you haven't met them? She's a strange one, that Deb." but of course they don't understand that in the world of scrapbooky blogs, you don't have to have met to feel a friendship. When I told them that 2 people had flown in from Arizona and 1 from Spain they were even more bemused. I fear their eyebrows raised so high they may have to have them surgically lowered!

 

So we woke on Saturday to see snow on the ground and a steady snowfall still coming down. Luckily we had someone to monitor the situation

And luckily roads stayed clear and British Rail kept running and our guests arrived (if you are friends with any of us on Facebook or follow us on Instagram, you may have already seen this photo!)

So the background to this story is that Denise,who I've known for about 35 years introduced me to Scrapbooking. She told tales of glitter and pretty paper and photos and flowers and the rest is history! She then introduced me to online classes, which led to me doing one of Shimelle's classes. She then introduced me to blogging. "You've got to have a blog Deb" "a blog? Why on earth? What would I write? Who would read it?. She then introduced me to crops. "I've found this great crop Deb. You need to come next month." "A crop? What? All day? How would I find enough to do for a whole day?" "There'll be home made cupcakes" "give me the address, I'll be there." And so I met Karen, who, along with rather delicious cupcakes also runs exceedingly good crops.
And tales of these crops and cupcakes spread through blog land to all corners of the earth. And in deepest Arizona a lovely lady called Deb said , "that looks fun, I wish I could join in one time" and the fickle fingers of fate gradually put the pieces together. When we heard that Deb and Carrie were on their way to Britain, we tried to find a way to show them what our crops were like. And we agreed that if they could get to my house we could host a mini crop there. And wouldn't it be great if we could get Alison over from Spain to join in too. And so it happened. Right here, yesterday. I still can't really believe it! And yes,there were cupcakes

We taught Deb and Carrie that although American and British sound the same - we have lots of words that don't mean the same over there as they do here!

Karen and Denise had provided a selection of lovely papers and embellishments, we took a group photo and printed it off so we all had the same 'ingredients' of a layout,and we set to work.

So to round off the day we went to our local pub where Deb discovered the delights of fish and chips with mushy peas, and Carrie discovered draught cider! And all too soon we were hugging goodbye and returning Alison,Deb and Carrie to the station for their return trip to London. It was SO good to meet the three of them properly and I really feel that we have all strengthened our friendships . I know that more people are meeting up today in London, although I can't make that meeting. And so the European adventure continues! Hurry back soon!