On one table we had Joyce from ArtsyNibs teaching calligraphy, brush lettering and pen skills. What a beautiful way of adding personality and flair to handwritten cards, envelopes and all sorts of other written goodies!

Each group began by covering basic hand movements and letter shapes and then put these into practice in words of their own using a mixture of brush pens, specialist Japanese lettering pens and gold and silver metallic pens.

Next it was on to block printing with Maddie from Tea and Crafting, a delightful workshop that teaches you how to decorate a plain magazine file with whatever design takes your fancy.

Using foam pads, our bloggers cut a design to make the ‘block’ or stamp. They then dipped these into acrylic paints and stamped away. Some went for simple designs, others went for intricate ones with a mixture of colours, but each one was as fabulous and unique as the next.

The crackers start life as a simple sheet of cardboard (similar to cereal box card in thickness and texture) that’s covered in glittery paper and bent in six places, as in the image below. A series of triangles are cut into the folds to help form the ‘cuff’ of the cracker.

Once this has been completed, the entire sheet is rolled around a cardboard tube form and glued into place. To finish off the cracker, you tie ribbons around the cuff, curl their ends and you’re done!

In between all this crafty merriment, we paused for a tasty lunch of tasty hot sandwiches with lashings of gravy and a glass or two of mulled wine or a cup of tea.