Well, yesterday was a very exciting day. I regularly swap ATCs on the Docrafts website - the forums there are very good, being busy and friendly. I am not one of the most active members, as I have lots of other things in my life going on, both craft and greyhounds, but I regularly visit and enjoy it. Anyway, one of the things that happens is members meet from time to time in different parts of the country. On Saturday it was the turn of Wales! One of the members kindly offered to host/organise it, and it was held in Barry. Barry has now become famous because of the TV show "Gavin and Stacey", but before that it was mostly notable as a port for the import of bananas and the notorious Barry Island - in the 1970s the home of a holiday park and funfair. Most people my age in South Wales will have been taken to Barry Island during their childhood to enjoy the rides, eat candy floss and toffee apples and win a goldfish in a shooting contest. Nowadays the holiday park is shut down and the funfair is on the verge of closing. The beach and coast are still beautiful though.

Kate, the organiser had been very hard working and a full day of demonstrations and activitites had been laid on for us. We all also brought with us a list of items such as goody bags to swap, raffle prizes, name badges that were swapped at the end, and ATCs on the theme of Barry, as well as general cards to swap with others. The raffle was brilliant and through that and various other activities we raised nearly £90 for Ty Hafarn, the local childrens hospice, which was great considering we were only 8 adults and one child. More importantly, it was really good to put faces to names, after swapping cards with people for quite some time. The whole day was lovely, really inspiring, and simply flew by in a whirl of craftiness. I've learned a lot and apparently it was such a success there will be another one in October. Hurrah! Generally, my crafting is a solitary activity so it was lovely to meet fellow enthusiasts, learn new things and enjoy meeting a lovely bunch of people. Some pictures attached. At the end, I was shattered but very happy.