So what’s just around the corner?

Hi there

Thanks for popping in. What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods? Bright and FREEEEEZING here! Really brass monkeys!!

There, you see. No sooner do brass monkeys spring to mind, than I have to find out where the saying comes from! Have used the expression all my life, and always just assumed that brass monkeys are cold to the touch, right? That may well be, but let’s get to the bottom of where ‘It’s brass monkeys” actually comes from…

We know that it is used to describe cold weather, but did we know that the saying derives from the traditional Navy phrase

“cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey”.

Oooh I say!! And of course, immediately we think of the little monkey’s gonads, right? Wrong!! Apparently, this references the brass structure or ‘monkey’ where cannon balls were stacked. Aha! So there you go. Now we know the rest of the story!

Yeah. So it’s brass monkeys here in the southeast of England. Moving on…

All set and packed for tomorrow’s TV show on the new Create & Craft channel 3-5pm. It’s the first Sunday of the month, and for as long as I have been doing TV I have always had a 2-hour Sunday afternoon show on that day. Never miss it either. (touchwood) It’s also a chance to bring out some Clarity Classics, and tomorrow is no exception.

Many of you will recognise these Text Corner beauties! We have reconfigured them, and turned them into unmounted sets – which is so much more cost effective for you crafters! I’ll show you how they work tomorrow.

Then we tightened up the lineart on these lovely box flowers by Mel, and made a little set with them. They fit in the text boxes like a charm. We also created another little set with everything in it: text corner, centrepieces AND clever corners to match! A proper little project kit!

Up next, Clever Corners. Hours of creative play here! Tune in tomorrow, and I shall show you how to use them x

These general sentiments are so so useful! For so many occasions too! And they work beautifully on the front of a card – and inside. I’ll show you how to use the floral spray as a background behind the words.

Ahh. Dear Annie’s Flyaway Collection. My favourite stamps of all time. As I said, you just never ever know what’s around the corner. But she lives on through her little daughter Dotty, and through her art.