Friends

There are few things in life worth more than good friends and this evening I got to spend a whole evening with some of mine - how lucky am I!

I left my job as Head of Patient Services in a local GP surgery almost 2 years ago now and moved on to a new job but I have still kept in contact with a few of my friends there and I felt really special after all this time to still be included in their Christmas meal.

There were only a few of us and I wanted to make them something each so when I found out today that 10 of us were going, I decided I could make these cute little gift boxes in the 2 hours I had between getting home from work and getting dressed to go out.

I stamped up a sheet of A4 paper this morning before going to work so I could copy some to share with the girls in the office so I simply copied a few more as the base card. The floral embellishments are made using a Sizzix die cutter and I printed the tags on my trusty computer. The flowers are layered up 3D style so they actually 'pop' out.

I saw the demo for the box template on the Create & Craft shopping channel last year and made several so it was nice to revisit this little box.

All being well I will photograph myself making this box over the weekend and get it posted onto my blog asap. It's 11.40 pm so I'm not going to do it tonight!!!!

I would normally have fussed over these a bit more (like adding liquid pearls or glitter) but time didn't allow.

This is Jackie (right) and Wendy who is a fellow Christian as well as a good friend and a lovely person to know. I used to think they broke the mould when they made her because there couldn't be another one like her but then I met her sister and her mum!

This is Gilly (left) who used to work in my office with me and who I miss talking to and Lynn who is a laugh a minute.

Me on the left, Christina (Head of Reception) in the middle and Wendy again. Christina is very good at keeping in touch with me so she is the one who made it possible for me to be here tonight.

Here are 2 of the 3 Jans working at the surgery. Jan in the middle is saying 'cheese' in case you wondered what the face was about. I had hoped to see the other Jan but she wasn't there.

We went to the Tollgate Inn for our meal and if you get a chance to eat there you won't be disappointed. The food is great, the management soooooo friendly and the portions are HUGE! Drinks, main course, desserts for some and coffee liquers for others, more drinks (including a free one on the house) and all for £15 each.

The girls loved their little gift boxes - I filled them with Twilight chocolates - so it was worth the effort but then friends are always worth making an effort for and I had a great time catching up on how we are all doing.

Girls if you are reading this - May your Christmases be filled with family, fun and all the love that your hearts can hold. Love & blessings for a safe and happy Christmas from Suezie OXOXO