The Winner Is...

Hello Everyone!

My goodness - Before I announce the winner of my Gorgeous Christmassy Giveaway, I just want to say how wonderful all of your responses were - I was blown away by how many of you shared your Christmas moments here, and I enjoyed reading each and every one of them.

I noticed that the majority of us love lots of similar things about this time of year ~ twinkling tree lights, gathering with family and friends, remembering those no longer with us, carols and church services, and one that touched me especially was the comment from Nicole who had premature twins that were not expected to survive...they will be having their very first Christmas this year!  Stories like that bring home what it's all about, so thank you to each and every one of you for making this giveaway so very special.

Anyway...without any further rambling ~ I've just had a little visit to the Random Number Generator and typed in 106 - yes, 106 of you dropped in to take part - pressed the button...and the number that popped out was...

Number 4

Rachael, from Made With Love, you are my winner (big happy smiles!)

Will you drop me a line to tell me which print you would like ~ remember, you can choose from any of the ones on my Fine Art Prints page up to the value of £14.00.  I do hope you see something that you like!

For the rest of you who entered, thank you so much!

This week has seen the arrival of heaps of snow, the heaviest of which fell last night.  I reckon we have about 30cm or so, not to mention the knee high drifts!!  Needless to say, the Small One hasn't been to her school up the village - two reasons:  we couldn't make it, and she has a nasty chest infection complete with barking cough.  To keep her busy, we got to work doing Important Letter Writing...

We're working on the Good Girl part, as apparently nasty coughs create a new level of crabbiness not encountered before!!  

For some reason (it's probably to do with the snow and all your seasonal comments), Christmas spirit is creeping in quicker than usual.  At the weekend, we drove out to Castleton to show the Little One the Christmas trees.  It was bitterly cold, but you couldn't help be inspired by the beauty of Mam Tor covered with a gauze of fine snow, and the bright cheery lights of the trees.  We have visited this village since we were children, and it's a lovely thing to be able to share it with my own wee one...

...just starting to turn on the lights...

...the Three Roofs cafe, and Peveril Castle up on the hill...I love the silhouettes of those skeletal trees against the white sky, and the welcome twinkle of the warm white lights.

Just before I go, I want to tell you about a little offer I have especially for my Facebook Likers and my Blog Followers/Subscribers...you can choose a personalised, hand stamped message for free, when you purchase one of my A5 individual, signed Christmas cards.  Up to 30 letters, any wording you like!!  The stamp is a vintage typewriter style which I think looks lovely - I hope you agree!

You can click here to find out more.

I'm currently busy putting packs of cards together to mail out, so not much time to paint right now. However, I'm delighted at the responses I've had to them - these will continue to be available to order until the 15th December (for UK customers) and for overseas, today is the last date for orders (so I can meet my international post date of the 6th which should get them to you in plenty of time).

Well - if you're still reading, thank you!  Thank you also for stopping by, your visit here is very much appreciated.  I do hope you will drop by and say 'Hello' again soon, it's always a pleasure to see you here!

Sending huge scoops of love your way,

Keep warm

Julia x x x