There are No Secrets .......

I usually hope that if I ignore 'the day' I will not get any older... it hasn't worked so far but I continue to resolutely keep trying.... you never know I might be successful one day....

BUT

.... some people shout it out from their blogs!!

..... and others remember the date

..... facebook has a reminder for your list of friends

.... precious childrens phone/skype

.... grandies sing birthday songs

..... Mr Postie arrives with lots of squishy envelopes

.... invitations for chocolate cake and tea

..... a son that finds a video clip

The fun started on Wednesday when Michelle and Maree visited the area so Kris and I met up with them....

we had some tea and then went shopping... then we were exhausted and hungry so had to sit for a while and have some snacks.....

Michelle, Me, Maree, Kris

I hadn't met Michelle and Maree before and it was so fun meeting fellow bloggers - we could have been the rainbow lorikeets there was such a lot of chattering happening..... they are just like I had imagined....  AWESOME

..... they came bearing lots of lovely gifts.... thank you so much ....

fabric, fudge, patterns, notelets, strawberry bag, cards

I felt I was among amazing company - they are all designers - and great ones too so I have to tell you a little about them and I hope you can visit to say G'day....

Maree has recently been published for the first time in a magazine (see HERE) I saw that bag in real life and it is AWESOME.... I will be looking out for that issue

Michelle is the drawer of stitcheries and has recently printed a new set that can be made into a number of different small gifts (see HERE) I have one of those - lucky me.... and they are AWESOME too

Kris has a new bag with a Paris theme (see HERE) which uses up some charm squares - it is AWESOME and I will need one I think!

I have used this pattern before and I loved it and feel it is perfect for those large prints that you want to keep as a lovely picture so I made these up as gifts....

the hand stitching is effective for a border ......

The pattern is from a Handmade magazine and is by Meredith Harmer.

I have a pile of pretty blue fabrics to show you next time from birthday fat quarter swappers - a lovely way to grow a 'stash'