A new job, my 300th post, my 35th birthday, and £50 ($100) worth of U-Handbag goodies up for grabs!!

There's a lot going on in this post so I've broken it all up into headers:

My new (additional) job:

Firstly, I want to say a HUGE thank you for your kind words of encouragement for my job interview to become a bag making workshop tutor at The Make Lounge.  I'm not over egging it when I say that your lovely emails and comments gave me so much joy, heaps of confidence in myself, and they really helped me decide that it was a good decision to make.

So yesterday I went to the Make Lounge to meet Jennifer (the owner) for an interview chat.  The first thing that struck me was how nice the building is.  It's bright, airy, modern, and spacious with gleaming sewing machines and lots of handcraft dotted about the walls and displayed prettily on shelves.  Jennifer said she  already knew about me so the interview was more about what classes I could teach rather than whether I was suitable for the job.  So I start in September! Oh I'm so so so excited!  I left the interview with a psychotically wide grin on my face, on the way to the tube station I stopped in Ottolenghi for a raspberry and lemon cupcake (try eating a lemon cream cupcake when your face won't stop smiling; you'll look quite crazy and people will cross to the other side of the street).

I can't wait to start; one thing about working for yourself is that at times you can feel quite isolated so this is going to be such a nice way to meet other crafters (hopefully some of you folks included) face to face. Yipppee!

Here's a mosaic class at the Make Lounge in full swing; looks great fun! To see more pics of the Make Lounge look here.

My 300th blog post:

I can't thank all of my readers, commenters, customers, emailers, linkers, tutorial users, prize donors, contest entrants (have I missed anyone?) enough.  You've all helped make blogging so worthwhile and enjoyable for me and I'm so grateful for that.  I just hope that you find my next 300 posts useful and/or enjoyable :)

My 35th Birthday:

I hit 35 yesterday.  In this time of my life I feel very blessed and pretty fulfilled.  It's definitely one of my better birthdays.  Friends, family, and Beans are safe and well (those that have passed away are lovingly remembered and I'm pretty sure they would be quite happy with what I'm doing these days), I adore my work and hobbies, and there's always something tasty in the fridge.  I don't really need anything else to be as happy as Larry :0)

£50 ($100) of U-Handbag goodies up for grabs!!!!:

Yep, so all of that amounts to a lot of stuff for me to feel happy about so I am celebrating by giving a load of U-Handbag making goodies away.  1 draw winner will get to have a rummage around in my shop and choose themselves £50 worth of bag making goodness (except for fabrics and interlinings).  As long as it's in stock (and as long as it's not fabric or interlinings), the lucky winner can get their mitts on ANYTHING ELSE IN MY SHOP!

Draw Details (please read carefully)

£50 ($100, EUR63 approx) worth of U-Handbag bag making supplies will be given to 1 winner. I'll draw the winner in 2 weeks time - 27th June.

To enter all you have to do is comment on THIS PARTICULAR POST by answering this question:

• If you were going to attend a 3 - 4 hour long bag making workshop what would you like to learn about and what bag/purse would you want to make?  I've deliberately made this an open question.  PLEASE be kinda detailed in your answer because (as you might have guessed) I'll be taking a close look at your comments  so they can help me plan the bag making workshops that I will start holding in September. Thank youuuu!
  

Contest Official-ness :

1. I'll randomly draw the 1 winner in 2 weeks time - 27th June and announce the winner the following day-ish.  Good luck!
2. Fabric and interlinings are not included in the prize, anything else in the shop is up for grabs as long as it is in stock.
3. I'll need to ask the winner to make a donation for the postage.
4. Sorry I can't notify winners, so please keep an eye for the winner announcement.  This is made easier for you if you subscribe to this blog so you don't have to keep checking back, although it's always great to have you pop-in for a read :0)
5. Prizes which are not claimed within 3 weeks of the winner announcement will be carried forward to the next draw.
6. Sorry I can't reply to contest/draw comments, but I do love reading every single one :)