Hi everyone, I managed to get online but it is not the speed of light!!!!

When I said in an early post that I packed everything for this trip, I truly did - the famous Crafty Ribbons "Bingo" bag came too!  Who could I get to pick this weeks winner for our Friday FREEBIE, have you met Ettley? He is my teddy bear and comes everywhere with us (much to the disgust of Tony). Ettley has done the honours this week and he has picked........

.....our Friday FREEBIE winner is

16 - Sharon Neil

Sharon's favourite ribbon collection is the bling - it would appear you are not the only one Sharon.  The bling is just blingtastic!!  Please email us your address craftyribbons@gmail.com so the girls can send a WANT IT ALL Bling collection to you.

Thank you to everyone who left such wonderful comments, it was great to read them all last night and catch up.

I am not speaking to Bev and Rachie, do you know what they did today. I sent a text to say that we were having a delightful lunch and I got a reply saying they were far to excited to eat, they were piling into a delivery of NEW ribbons.  NO, NO they are mine!!!

Sounds like I  caused a little bit of a dilemma asking you to pick your favourite ribbon! It has been great catching up on your comments.  These French show hours are exhausting, and next week they are even longer in Paris. 

There was a huge display of pergamano at the show, something I have never tried.  The work was exquiste and they allowed photography.

This picture looked so delicate.

This was taken through the glass frame, it is so fine. I wonder how many hours of work it took.

This little basket caught my eye, Spider web roses made from silk ribbon.

Metz is over for another year, the trailer is all loaded, we must have sold a fair amount of stock, it was not such a tight squeeze fitting it all back in!!!

We are heading off tomorrow to a Auberge in the middle of a forest en route to Paris, something a little bit different.  Tony booked a room with a hot tub, but forgot to ask if they have WiFi or if there is a mobile signal - men! So you may or may not hear from me!!

Wow our 5th Friday FREEBIE of the New year!

What is your favourite ribbon collection?

Does Bling make you zing?

Do you see spots with all our dots?

Let us know what is your favourite collection and we will make a Friday FREEBIE just for YOU!

So what do you to do to win your dream Friday FREEBIE is to leave us a comment telling your fav ribbons.  We will pick the winner from our "Bingo" bag on Monday afternoon.

If your comment is being blocked  by our spam filters please email the comment to us here craftyribbons@gmail.com and we will add it for you.  Your email address will then be verified and you will be able to leave further comments without any hassle. 

Have a fun filled weekend.

The show we are exhibiting at is called "Creativa" which means creative. So not only is there cross stitch, wool, papercraft, stands you would find in all UK shows, but there are also stands for all types of creation.  The stand just down from us is selling silicone baking moulds, so all day they are baking - ooh the smell!!  The nut crisp he makes is so tempting, he rolls it between two flat sheets of silicone.  I have to be so careful not to watch his demonstration all the time! We also have the Tupperware stand, yes proper tupperware in some wicked colours, not like the ones my mum had.  Although I am pleased that we are not near the "Spice Man", think it would be too heady for me.

The show closed at 7pm, but I managed to nip off the stand to take a few pics for you.  There is a display of lamp shades, but not plain boring ones, these have had a "make over"! Let there be light - although I am not sure how much light will shine through these lamp shades!

Only lamp shades here.

Look our ribbons and buttons!

Great idea for a childrens room, or even a craft room.

Not sure I have a room to accomodate this one.

Thanks for all your wonderful comments, I do hope your are enjoying Crafty's tour, it's great to read them as I always get a little home sick, silly I know. I like your idea Gail, sell all the ribbons and come home with cakes - party at Crafty's house!! Your cards are on the stand Dorothy, at the front above the buttons.

Don't forget tomorrows Friday... FREEBIE day

Oooooh! Very PINK!  This is what we found when we arrived at the exhibition centre today - this is our stand and yes that is our electrics scattered on the floor.  Wooh! a bit of a change from the normal grey we get in the UK.  The colour of the carpet is a dark violet - think there maybe a bit of "clashing" going on.

I was very surprised and didn't think it looked too bad by the time we had finished.

Look at all your cards and goodies, there is more stand, but I could not fit it all in the photo.

We have lots of NEW ribbons on the stand, and plan to get them on the website soon, BUT I could not resist showing you these beauties....

.....silk ribbons to die for!  I will have great difficulty tomorrow parting with these hand dyed wonders.

Thanks to the girls in the warehouse the stand went together like a dream, it all fitted in as planned. And not one item missing!! So with half the day still to enjoy we headed into Metz.

As you walk out of the car park you see Metz catherdal, Tony and I have only ever been to Metz in January when it is cold and grey.  One day we will visit when the sun is shining and all the little cafes have their terraces open. 

I try very had when away from home to keep up with my "Five a Day"

.....this will do nicely for today, there were FIVE different fruits.  It was pure heaven!!

We've arrived in Metz and everything went as planned, something we are not very used to! 

The ferry crossing was a dream and and not at all rough, although we did not leave on time.  Why is it that it doesn't matter what time we turn up at the ferry port, or what vehicle we are driving or what lane number we are sent down,  the men dressed in yellow see us and say "Arrh Crafty Ribbons are here, we will load them last".  Always, everytime!!

It was a cold night and I was frozen by the time we got to the cabin, thankfully Tony always books a 4 berth outside cabin with window , why the window I have no idea, you can not see anything -it's dark when we leave Portsmouth and dark when we arrive in France. Anyway it means that there are always 2 duvets going spare, so pinned down in my bunk with 3 duvets I soon got warm!!

We seemed to have been driving for hours before we saw our first Metz sign, yippee we only had 282 clicks to go!! 

Lunch time, well we are in France! It would be rude not to stop and enjoy their cuisine.  You would have thought that we had taken a detour and arrived at some off the beaten track ski chalet.  The waitress said it had been snowing since last Friday, thankfully several of our customers had warned us and we were well prepared - warm clothes - shovel - water - food - you name it and I probably had packed it.

Honest this is not a ski resort Bev and Rachie!!!!

Look I can prove it.....

....get your maps out girls and you well see that the A4 takes you to Metz.  We do not get to see snow like this in Dorset, I know that most of you are bored of it by now, but all I wanted to do was jump in and make snow angels.  I have been promising to do this with Sydney for so long, all that has been missing is the snow!!

After a wonderful lunch we continued to Metz, where we are tucked up in a comfy warm hotel, ready for the delights that setup tomorrow will bring!

Untill next time.

That's right our loading bay is empty!  The French exhbition stand is all re-stocked, loaded and ready for tonights ferry.

We never normally see this window, it's always covered with the stand - not very pretty with all those bars, but we all know why they are there!

Rachie and Bev picked the numbers this week (do you like Rachie's new hair style?)

The 3 lucky winners for this weeks Friday FREEBIE....

......are

9 = Ann

14 = Karen Jones

40 = Jan

Well done girls, you each have a Bev's Bag turning up on your door step soon.  All we need is for you to email us your address details to craftyribbons@gmail.com .  Thank you all for such delightful comments, what fun!

Camera and laptop all packed so you can all join in with Crafty's Tour de France!

Wooh Whooo!!! I do not believe it "Cherry Pie" Ribbon Challenge is Full!!!!

One hour and 28 minutes to fill the challenge - thank you all for your interest, I am amazed.

Sorry if you missed out on this challenge but we have another one coming up soon, so check back regularly. 

"Cherry Pie" ribbons are not on the website yet, but we plan to put them on soon.

SORRY THIS CHALLENGE IS NOW FULL

I know that we still have 3 sets of goodies from Challenge 11 to arrive back, BUT I have been bursting to set this NEW Challenge......

The ribbon is called "Cherry Pie" and has scrummy cherries on.  This is the collection of ribbons that I had to be in the office for 7am to take delivery of!!!  It was worth getting up early for.  What do you think of my ribbon bookmarks?

We have 10 free bundles of "Cherry Pie" ribbons to give away.  All we ask in return for these ribbons are two cards or projects that use the ribbons around a Cherry theme.

The ribbons can be used to enhance all forms of crafts - card making, projects, ATC's.  If you are up to the challenge, then send us an email to craftyribbons@gmail.com  marked RIBBON CHALLENGE # 12 

The first TEN to reply will be sent an email requesting address details so we can send your free ribbons!  Your finished cards and projects will be posted onto the blog and taken to our 3 UK shows in Glasgow, Olympia and Hobbycrafts NEC Birmingham.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Wahoo! It's Friday!

Everyone is falling down sick around me and I do not want to catch it!  I am not being selfish, well maybe a little, just the thought of standing on an exhibtion stand full of cold - errrhhh!

So happy thoughts Ali - Friday FREEBIE what is up for grabs today?

BEV'S RIBBON BAG - Well it had to be really, with all this Love and Romance on the blog.  The Challenge goodies have been fantastic, maybe they have inspired you in some little way?! 

We have 3 Bev's Bags for this weeks Friday FREEBIE, all you have to do for a chance to win one is to leave a comment.  We will pick the 3 lucky winners on Monday from our "Bingo" Bag.

If your comment is being blocked  by our spam filters please email the comment to us here craftyribbons@gmail.com and we will add it for you.  Your email address will then be verified and you will be able to leave further comments without any hassle. 

So go on get those fingers a clicking on the old computer keyboard!!  We want comments, we nearly reached 50 last week!!! Don't forget if you received a discount voucher from last weeks Friday FREEBIE you have to use it by Sunday evening.

Have a fun filled weekend.