on saturday morning, i woke up nice and early, washed my hair, packed my bag and grabbed a coffee for the journey and headed to the train station. i had another date with daisy at make, thrift hq in cricklewood! christmas crafts were on the agenda, and i was a bundle of excitement - these last few weekends have been full of daisy and crafts, and i gotta say - they've been really fun!
as i sat at blackfriars waiting for my connecting train, i quickly checked the time. it had just gone 11am, which was perfect timing as the train was due at quarter past. i was flicking through the pictures in my phone when suddenly a thought crossed my mind; the workshop was supposed to start at 11. how was i still at the station after 11? i found the screen shot of the train journey i had planned the night before, and that's when it dawned on me; i was an hour later than i should be. the picture in my phone showed the connecting train leaving at 10:15, not 11:15. what a foooool!
i frantically text daisy that i was running late, and would be there as soon as possible - providing the train was on time, then i should've been able to make it by half passed. i encouraged her to start without me, and that i'd see her soon. i jumped on the train and willed it to go faster. at st pancras the train stopped for longer than necessary, but sometimes this happens at major stations to allow for the luggage etc blah blah. no big deal. i had my head phones in and i wasn't really taking much notice. as far as i could tell, we were still on schedule.
as we pulled out of the station, i could hear the driver talking. ignoring it as the usual 'mind the gap; malarky, i paid no attention. but, he kept talking. i paused my music just long enough to hear something i did not want to hear that morning..."this train is now express to st. albans"...
25 minutes and 20 odd miles later, i was in hertfordshire. i'd spent the journey close to tears and feeling stupid and all the while texting boyfriend and daisy and keeping the laughter at bay on facebook. it was tough. after speaking to the nice lady at the ticket gate about my dilemma, she told me to "stay put pet, the train's delayed but will be here shortly -- platform 2 love", where i dutifully boarded, sat, and went back the direction i had just come from. another 20 minutes later, i had finally arrived in cricklewood. only an hour and a half late.
i rushed in and was welcomed with hot tea, christmas biscuits, and my first loo break in over two hours. i'd had two big coffees in that time; it was urgent. i quickly caught myself up to the other busy crafters, amy and sarah, who had designed and cut their tiles for printing, and were just about ready to print.
i quickly sketched up some ideas and went with the easiest one i could carve to catch myself up. the snow print was mainly straight lines, so was a pretty easy starting point for a novice like me. i was really happy with how it turned out! as well as a sheet of wrapping paper, i printed up some little gift tags too, punched some holes in them and added twine. hey presto! creative, no?
in the following three hours there was more tea, more crafts and a loooooad more food. as well as the printed paper and tags, i whipped up a christmas card, a special christmas cracker (with a special handmade gift inside!), a *special* bauble for the tree (special because it's wonky) and, the piece de resistance...
backyard advent calendar! proper pics of this to come, because there are a few bits that need to be reattached, but it's a brilliant little piece of work. essentially it came about because daisy had the balls in the frosty winter afternoon to get a handsaw and hack down a tree in her back yard. you read that right. so couple a few bits of branch, 24 numbers mini pegs and a shit ton of twine (ps - i should've been a brownie) together in your imagination, and see what you come out with.
at just before 6pm, i was knackered, cold and begging for dinner. i fled make, thrift hq not wanting to miss any more trains that day, and began what should've been an easy journey home. unfortunately, at that time of night there are fairly infrequent trains, so i was sat at blackfriars for a good 20 minutes before i was finally on the home stretch.
when i finally got home i was greeted by homemade pizzas, homemade cupcakes (to cheer me up after my jaunt to the countryside) and a bottle of pink wine. night made.
(check out daisy's facebook page for all upcoming craft workshops - they're tons of fun, and totally affordable!)
