Time to buy a stronger mantlepiece?

I am lucky enough to have received 2 more awards in the last few days..what a fortunate girl I am.
First the talented and very kind Vivienne awarded me a rather unusual award called the

Thank you Vivienne, and please do go to visit her blog, I love reading it. I met Vivienne last year and we have become great blogging buddies.

This award is slightly different and  as it is given to crafty-blogs, which have less than 300 readers, to encourage more people to visit you and see your handmades. You are asked to then pass it on to 3-5 other crafty blogs.

Vivienne and I both have little Etsy shops and I am thrilled that she included me in her choices to pass the award on to.

Normally I ask all my blogger friends to take my awards and pass them on. Awards are great way of  showing you  new blogs. I agree that the Liebster blog is a little different so this time I will actually name a few bloggers who do fulfil this criteria i.e not the "big guys!"

They are...drum roll!

Laney of Izzy beads Laney and I have been Internet friends for the last 3 years and she makes some beautiful glass beads, do pay her and her shop a visit. I am hoping to actually catch up with her in the flesh this year at one of the bead fairs.

Teresa who is a recent new blogger friend of mine out in the States and is a fellow jewellery maker and also loves to crochet. Her posts are very interesting as she also volunteers at a local historic beauty spot in Oregon.

Teje who is the most energetic delightful blogger out in Crete. Teje is also is  wonderful crafter who has opened her own little on line shop too.

 and

The delightful  Denise out in the States who again makes such sweet glass beads. Please check her out and her lovely Etsy shop.

I also want to thank a great friend of mine over in the states, the lovely Linda for nominating me for another Stylish blogger award.

That's so kind Linda.Thank you so much. Please go and check out her blog, I love her wonderful artwork and also the way she comments on life. She is one very interesting girl and I never miss a post!

I really think that most of my blogging buddies have been already nabbed for this kind award so please excuse me for not passing it on but if anyone reading this would like to take it please do......it is lovely to get some recognition and also to visit pastures new. There really are some wonderful blogs out there and some even more wonderful people writing them...so congratulations to everyone!

Now the one thing I will can do as part of this award is to tell you 7 random things about me. I think everyone enjoys reading this bit!

1.I have always kept pets. My first cat was a cat called Cilla, named after Cilla Black if any of you are old enough to remember her!

2. I kept guinea pigs as a little girl, my first was an unforgettable boar called Gulliver, he was such a larger than life character and still makes me smile when I remember him now.

3. Although I am very much a "cat" person I did once own a dachshund called Heidi. She again was some character and enjoyed eating everything including my homework on several occasions (I joke not!)

4. I love the Art Deco style and live in a 1930s house which has a few original fittings (including the mantelpiece-which may now need strengthening-LOL).

5. I trained as a physiotherapist at King's College Hospital, London.

6. My favourite city in the world is London, 2nd is Rome.

7. I love bananas but only when the skin still has a green tinge to it otherwise I hate them.

I hope that was random enough!

Thanks again everyone for reading my blog, even my "silent" readers.....hello!  I really get a lot of pleasure from it. Do remember that my giveaway ends really soon, have a look here if you would like to enter. The closing date is on Monday.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

A kind award....

Well this is a surprise post I know! I said I would wait until next week to re open the pages of Jane's Journal but as I had a rather lovely surprise today I have decided to write this mini post. Thank you Teje for nominating me for the Stylish Blogger award. That is so kind.

To accept this award I needed to nominate 15 other blogs for it but as I only have a few blogs on my list as I am pretty new to blogging I will just ask all those who read my blog to accept it as well and pass it on!

There are 4 duties to perform to accept the award:

1. Thank and link back to person who awarded you- thank you Teje your blog is such a happy read. Please take the time to visit her.
2. Share 7 things about yourself- see below
3. Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered bloggers- please everyone take this and share ;0)
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award- I do hope your reading this means I have satisfied my duties!

So what I will do here is to share 7 very random things about me....

1. I have been a physiotherapist for 28 years and it is still a job I love. I am a musculo-skeletal specialist.
2. I keep fit by dancing, my Hb and I attend Ballroom and Latin dancing classes twice a week.
3. I ALWAYS cry when I watch sad or even very happy films.
4. I am a total romantic and luckily have been married for 29 years to a man I adore.
5. I walk rather than drive/bus etc anywhere I possibly can. I can walk for England and I walk very fast.
6. I only read fiction when I am on holiday and then I can read a book in a day.
7. I love spiders...I can happily move the biggest ones out of the bath etc to safety.

I had a wonderful Christmas and I really hope you all did too?
This is cheeky Billy already seated at the table on Christmas Day!

There are still the New Year celebrations to look forward too....have a great time and I will see you back here again next Thursday with my promised 1st giveaway.....don't miss it.

Thanks again Teje and see you all again next week.

Bye for now,
Jane x