Easter Celebration

Easter this year was incredibly special for us. It marked a year in Kitty's amazing recovery and we wanted to say thank you to those who were part of that. We have done lots of fundraising for The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and will continue to do so. Easter however is going to be a time for us to remember the amazing staff on the Children's Unit at the local hospital. So inspired by a young man called Dylan Ward we asked people to donate craft items such as glue, scissors, Playdoh etc that we could give to the Play Team. My girls also donated their Easter money to add to the supplies too.

Like at most other hospitals the Play Team are reliant on charitable donations and were over the moon with our contributions. It is definitely something we will do again in the future.

Christmas Crafternoon 2011

A Christmas Crafternoon The Result

The weekend before Christmas we had our 'Christmas Crafternoon' fundraiser. It took a lot of organising and with the help of some really lovely people was a huge success!

Unfortunately I forgot to appoint a photographer for the day but luckily the lovely Rachelle saved the day and took a few shots for me to share!

We had plenty of craft workshops available including 'Button Necklaces' by Jo of French Knots...

...'Sputnik Snowflake Baubles' by Laura of Planet Kitty ...

...'Heirloom Angels' by Toni of Lady Behave...

...'Kitschy Wreaths' from yours truely...

...'Liberty Baubles' by Ted and Agnes...

...'Button Hearts' by my lovely friend Heather...

...and 'Tweedy Owls' courtesy of Tea Wagon Tales...

...so as you can see plenty to keep everyone busy!

We had a number of 'Teen Elves' to help serve the mulled wine courtesy of A Thrifty Mrs and Mr Thrifty...

...and 'Kitty Elf'...

...who had her own little stall selling her 'Kitty Kreations'. Unfortunately we have no photographs but imagine cute sock animals created by the hands of an 11 year old. Too cute I tell you. Of course they were a sell out!

There was a 'Josie Elf' too who was just as adorable in her stripy tights but no photograph!

Let Them Eat Cake 2011

Let Them Eat Cake

People often ask me what is the point of twitter and blogs? I find it hard to put into words but 'Let Them Eat Cake' encapsulated all that is good about social networking. It brought all of my online friends into direct contact with my offline friends. It showed there is a real connection within the online community. It enabled local businesses to contribute to their community and for all our friends to show that they are real friends whether we have met them in person or not. It was a lesson in human kindness that I will be forever grateful for.

My friends and family were amazing and baked their socks off. So big thanks to Helena, Evy, Vera, Rachael, Lindsey, Louise, Jo, Rachel, Heather and Steph. We had an array of food described by one guest as 'Straight out of an Enid Blyton book or Harry Potter feast'. Almost everything was donated for free for the day which meant our out goings were kept to the very minimum and every penny raised was able to go to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity

We had a team of lovely 'vintage' waitresses who ensured all the guests were kept topped up with tea and that the plates were never empty. Helped by a huge water urn supplied by Mann's Wharf.The pies from Bradley's Bakery were very well received. In the kitchen were are small army of people making sandwiches and washing up. In fact 'Team Kitty' worked like a well oiled machine.

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It was a lovely feeling opening our home to so many supportive people and seeing them actually have fun. The time really flew by and it was soon time for the raffle. So many lovely items had been donated to sell and raffle everyone was seriously spoilt for choice. All were delighted with their winnings and we were delighted so many people wanted to help. We truely couldn't have done it without everyone's support. Both in donating items and in buying tickets. We have so many people to thank...

Treefall Design, Thirty Five Flowers, Snapdragon, Three Red Apples, I'm a Ginger Monkey, Ruth Quilts, Ruth Singer, Lu Summers, Victoria Whincup, History's Attic, Stuart Thornley, Lady Behave, French Knots, KItty Eden, Cara Law, Dipity Do Dah, La Chic Unique, Little Tea Wagon, Vintage Jelly, The Secret Tea Cup, Old Fashioned Susie, Higgledy Piggledy, Tea Experience,Megan Thomas and Blueberry Park for all sending gorgeous items for us to sell and raffle.

A big thank you has to go to Carousel Kids for all their help with the designing the tickets and also a delightful tea-cup shaped keepsake wth all the sponsors details on.

The sale and raffle looked a lttle like a mini version of our Agnes Darling stall and was full of lots of items made and donated by our friends Ruth, Heather, Jacqui, Charlie, Kitty and also our fellow Vintage Village stall holders...

Tin Trunk, Village Vintage, Woodchip Boutique, The Side Room,Christine's Crafts, Rachel's Boutique, High Tea, House of Gingerbread, Time for Tea and Cake, All Our Yesterdays, Lost But Not Forgotten, Grumbi Dolls, Parrot in the Pantry, Karin FIndell, Oh Betty and Vintage by Moya.

More photos here

Finally we need to thank our guests. The 60 people who bought tickets and actually came on a drizzly Saturday afternoon to support us. Who were generous in more ways than one.

We are incredibly blessed to be able to share our story with so many. I realise that not everybody is fortunate to have such a happy ending and sometimes the heartbreak for some is too much to bear but my life has taught me that every story can teach us about ourselves and others. Every story can enable us to make a difference.

We hope that the amazing amount of £1200 that we raised will make a positive difference to somebody else's story. That our efforts can help somebody else even in a little way but in truth giving back has probably helped us much , much more.

A Little Piece of the Cake

A Little Piece Of The Cake

'Let Them Eat Cake 2011' was a huge success and you can still be part of it!

Megan Thomas kindly designed a lovely print for the event.

It comes in 2 colourways and 2 sizes.

(Please note the tag line is the one shown in the blue print)

A4 size are £4 and A3 size are £8

P&P in UK is £2 (no charge for additional prints)

P&P overseas is £3 (no charge for additional prints)

To keep costs to a minimum and ensure all the money possible goes to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital these will be printed to order.

If you would like to support us by purchasing one of these lovely prints then please leave a comment or send me an email and I will arrange to send you a Paypal invoice.