Hi there

Thanks for popping in! Let me tell you a story..

Once upon a time there was a young Mum called Barb, who had two little children. Every Christmas Eve, Gracie, the eldest daughter, would read Twas The Night Before Christmas to the family. The first time Grace was a little apprehensive, because there were quite a lot of long words for a nipper. So they made a deal, Barb and Grace, and had a secret sign. When Grace came across a word she wasn’t sure about, she was to wink at her Mum, who would then gently prompt her.

Picture the scene. The whole family was gathered around the tree on Christmas Eve. Grace was perched on a little stool in front of the tree in a dark blue velvet dress, big book poised, all ready for her performance. And then she began…

Twas the night before…. She winked at Barb, who whispered Christmas, (and thought to herself, Blimey. This could take a while. We could be here all night!!)

I remember it as if it were yesterday. I started illustrating the Poem by Clement Clarke Moore, one verse at a time for the children. Over several years – about 20! – I managed to complete 15. It’s not the whole poem; just extracts which flow into each well to make a shorter version. Grace would have appreciated that back in the day – and so would the rest of the family! Nah, not really. There’s nothing quite like watching kids perform and sing and dance. Grace and Mark use to sell us tickets too! Straight up!! They’d put out the chairs, and make tickets which we had to buy if we wanted to watch them perform. Golden.

But enough woffle. I was thinking about all this early this morning, because another good friend, Tina Cox, is taking the stage today on Create & Craft. And she’s showcasing our Twas the Night Groovi Collection!

Here is some inspiration from the design team

Gracie is a professional Voice over actress now. She reads audible books, is the voice of BBC America, and has a formidable portfolio. If you‘re interested, check out her Voice over website. You’ll be impressed. Click here

She also took the time to read the whole poem for us…beautiful artwork by yet another good friend, Jane Telford.

What a wonderful family heirloom Jane has created there, using the Groovi ‘Twas The Night Collection. I notice there was a little tag on the front: For Amy. That’s Jane and Colin’s daughter. I hope she’s having a blast at Glastonbury this weekend! Amy, not Jane!! I don’t think Jane could stomach the Long-drop loos!! Yummy…

Anyho ho ho! I hope you can tune in at 1pm & 5pm and keep lovely Tina company. Let’s see what magic she comes up with…

Quote for today?

It’s not what we have in life, but who we have in life that matters

Love always,

Barb x x x