Jean Yates JY1

I think you're the ruby :-)

Here's a message from my Star Wars freaky-deaky son to all of 'The Postcardians'.

'May the force be with you and you and you and you and you and you.....' I'm sure you get the idea!

Anna Pilgrim AP1

From the pictures I've seen, Southampton was a lovely place before the bombs fell. If my memory is correct, Jane Austen stayed there when one of her brothers was in port. Jane would still be able to recognise parts of Bath & Winchester now, but not, I fear, Southampton.

Winchester has suffered at the hands of the town planners too. During the twentieth century, much of the medieval layout of the city was destroyed and all for the sake of the motor car!

Anna - thank you very much for sending such an interesting card!

Beverley Abbott BA10

Thank you, Bev - you're a star! Good luck!

Beverley Abbott BA9

Grace Darling - what a lass!

Beverley Abbott BA8

I've always loved map cards - I still find the ones that I received as a child, in the books that I read to the brood. If something wonderful arrives in the post or there's an interesting article in a newspaper or magazine, I use these as bookmarks for whatever book I'm reading. When I re-read books, I find these 'snap shots of life' & it's always a fascinating surprise.

Beverley Abbott BA7

It's stunning!

Beverley Abbott BA6

I certainly do!

Beverley Abbott BA5

Thank you!

Beverley Abbott BA4

It sure is!

Beverley Abbott BA3

You too Bev!

Beverley Abbott BA2

Lots of lovely postcards!

Mr Postman staggered to the door and handed me cards from Jean Yates ( JY1), Anna Pilgrim (AP1) and TEN postcards from the wonderful Beverley Abbott so BA1 to BA10 are in the draw.

Blogger won't let me upload the pictures at the moment, but as soon as it decides to play ball, I will add these postcards to the blog.

I've added a fresh photo of 'Beach' to the website - I hope it helps to give you a clearer idea of what it looks like in the flesh. Chain bracelets are such elusive creatures though - they will not do as they're told!

Lovely ladies - thank you very much for your support!

Beverley Abbott: BA1

OK Bev! 1. 2. 3. PANTS!

Kate Noakes: KN1

'If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it...'

Beautiful! Thank you Kate!

Jean Yates: JY2

The Brood are babbling about Jean's card. Tom & Lula both want the Star Wars stamps & Ellie wants to frame Jean's BEAUTIFUL drawing of a fairy. I've blown raspberries at each of them, but have done photocopies for them. IT'S MINE!

Jean, The Brood have asked me to tell you that, to quote Lula, 'It'th awethome!'

Roland Sparling: RS1

This is so tactile! Thank you Roland!

Laura Sparling: LS1

Thank you very much for this gorgeous card!

By the way...

Any puns or jokes about the mail, post or postcards are gratefully received especially if they're cringe-worthy :-)

First past the post!

The first postcards have arrived and I'm sending a big round of applause to Laura & Roland Sparling - congratulations!

When Lula & I have finished making a dog kennel and a nest for 'Foxy Chick' ( Lula prefers a fox to a teddy bear, but she's not sure if FC would prefer a nest or a kennel to sleep in), I will scan their beautiful cards & add them to the blog.

The fun begins! Thank you SO much!

Anna's good idea

I'm being lazy today because I'm going to let somebody else do the talking. I received the following email from Anna Pilgrim. Once I've edited the photographs of the earrings which are the third prize in the competition, I'm going to follow Anna's example & send out my emails.

'Hi Jennifer

Just to let you know - I went to the Ovarian Cancer Action website and copied a link to the page with signs and symptoms. I have emailed it to most of my address book with a note about the importance of reading the information. How is easy is that ! I have already had some replies, and they will be sending the page on to their friends/family. So I hope the information spreads in this way. We all know to examine our breasts, but I don't think many people have even heard of ovarian cancer.

from Anna'

Here's the link to 'What you should know.'

What to do on a Bank Holiday Monday

I'm having a sleeping day today which is thoroughly self-indulgent, but I care not a jot. I can do a 'Thatcher' for long periods of time & get by on four or five hours of sleep, but when I hit the one brick wall that I'm not able to push against, I sleep. Thank goodness I have a husband who's a very good wife to me. This house would have burnt down a long time ago if all the cooking was left to me!

Later on, I'm going to add a roll call of all you lovely Postcardians to my website. Not everyone has a website & I want the world to know who wonderful you all are for shouting 'PANTS' to the women in your lives. Anyone had any funny looks yet? Or emails wondering if you're feeling OK?

My children are ferried back & forth to school in a mini-bus so I won't have the pleasure of shouting 'PANTS' to the mothers at the school gate next week, but I am going to have a word with the school's administrator to see if a sentence or six could be added to the weekly newsletter. Fingers crossed!

When I've stopped sleeping, my next task is to assemble the pendants & earrings that I want to offer you. If a miracle happens & sun returns to the UK whilst the children are on half term, I may be able to photograph them too.

In England today is a bank holiday and we're all enjoying typical English bank holiday weather. Last week we sweltered, but over the weekend, we have enjoyed rain ( torrential at times), grey skies & a few gales for good measure.

The English bank holiday comes in two varieties. Either we're in our thermals or the sun is so hot that the tarmac on our roads melts. We know a lot about the state of our roads during hot bank holiday weekends, because most of the residents of this 'green & pleasant land' like to get their cars out & sit in traffic jams for hours at a time. The few inhabitants who remain at home are likely to found burning portions of chicken on a barbecue that took three hours to emit sufficient heat to blacken a sausage. We really know how to have fun in England! Just think what I'm missing by sleeping my way through a Bank Holiday Monday!

An extraordinary day

It's way past three in the morning & I should be asleep because I need fresh eyes in order to take photographs of the bracelet for you. I've called it 'Beach'. I read a truly beautiful story before I went to sleep last night & this morning I woke up with a picture on my mind.

I've never been to the Hamptons, but I've seen the beaches in films & I'm in love with an image of driftwood, a long spread of waves & gleaming white sand. Do we have white sand in the UK?

I couldn't pull the idea out of my head & turn it into a physical presence in my hand until I alighted on the bead trays that house Beverley Hicklin's work. Beverley has caught it - captured it - summarised it in glass. My hope now is that I've done justice to her beads - this always makes me feel nervous particularly when I show the bead artist what I have done with their art.

Dear Artists, what do you feel when you hand over a bead that you have lovingly created? You give designers the opportunity to make kinetic art. What a gift to pass on to the world!

Back to the Beach. After I assembled the bracelet, I found a photograph on the net that chimed with the image in my mind. Look at this - click! Isn't it beautiful?

It's been an extraordinary day. Your support is so moving. You could be saving a life - let's hope & say 'lives'.

Welcome on board!

Firstly I would like to thank Tracy Pittendreigh for joining in. Her website is currently in the development stage & I for one can't wait to see her work.

Now then Miladies, I would like to welcome a knight into our midst, namely sire Roland Sparling. I'm deeply grateful for his support. I'm going to nudge my menfolk now - I need more postcards!

The Virgin Bracelet

When I got up this morning, I pledged to assemble The Postcardian Bracelet, this being the first prize I'm offering you. The day went zoooooooom so the chain bracelet is still a virgin.

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." As my way of being different was to basically not do anything at all, I hereby vow to alter my slack habits. 'After all, tomorrow is another day.'

A quick summary of what to do

I've copied much of what follows from the letter I will send you if you'd like to play 'The Postcard Competition'. Here goes...

If you would like to join in, please send me an email at art_of_curiosity@btinternet.com. I will then send you a code for your postcard & my earthly name & address.

As soon as I receive your postcard, I will scan it & post it on this blog for us all to share.

The draw will be held on Sunday 1st July 2007. As soon as dear MILlie* has handed me the winning numbers, I will race to my computer & share the news. The three prizes will start their journey to the winners on Monday 2nd July as will my cheque to the organisers of Ovarian Cancer Action.

Could you do one more thing for me? Rude as it may seem, please could you say 'PANTS to Ovarian Cancer' to all the women you know or refer them to the Ovarian Cancer Action website or indeed any of the organisations who are trying to spread the word about ovarian cancer.

My mother mistakenly thought that her symptoms were caused by the menopause. By the time she found out what was really the matter, the ovarian cancer was too advanced to treat. Please don't let this happen to you or any of the women in your life. We have to make a big fuss about this.

I am angry about the following. Out there is a woman - several women - who have ovarian cancer & they don't know it. They could be treated & their lives saved if they were able to see a doctor NOW.

I don't think about this as a matter of blame - we're all going to die & we've all got to die of something. This is about education. We are going to die, but with the right facts in our armoury, we might be able to avoid an early death.

Please talk to all the women you know. To borrow the cliché - 'We're worth it!'

* M(other)I(n)L(aw)lie

It wasn't a glitch - it was me!

I don't know what I'd do without my triumvirate support team AKA 'The Goddesses' AKA Jean Yates, Emma Ralph & Laura Sparling. Without their help, it would be pen & ink for me.

Laura has kindly whispered some words of advice to me & I've clicked two buttons on. I just hope they were the right ones.

Is there a glitch or is it me?

Everybody - I thank you all for your swellegant support! I've blown kisses to the four winds so I hope your share has reached you.

There is some kind of glitch on this blog - I can't see you (although I know you're there) and it seems that some of you can't reach me. I've tried to make my email address loud & proud so if you have any problems, please email me at art_of_curiosity@btinternet.com

This weekend I'll send each of you my earthly address here in the UK. I'll also send you a code number - if you want to send more than one card, firstly may I bless you & secondly let me know & I'll send some more code numbers for the draw.

I'm going to draw up a list of all you 'Positively Perfect Postcarders' and I'll add it to the home page of my website later on today. If I accidentally miss you or make any mistakes, please hollo at me & I'll correct my mistakes.

Once again - MANY THANKS!

Please will you play?

So far, I have blown kisses to:

Laura Sparling,

Jean Yates

Cathy Lybarger of Aardvark Art Glass ( Cathy - have I got that right?)

There's a first, second & third prize so that's cool - each of my lasses is a winner.

Why not give them a little competition though? I'm sure they won't mind.

If you're unable to post here, my email address is

art_of_curiosity@btinternet.com

The date is wrong!

I've just noticed that the competition post is dated 21st May. I drafted it then but today is the day I'm broadcasting.

I wonder who will be the first for me to blow a kiss to?

Do you want to play?

To celebrate the start of my venture into jewellery life, I'd like to hold a competition and it would be lovely if you'd consider joining in.

The premise is simple. The details are more....er....detailed, but we'll leave them out for the moment.

The question is this: would you be willing to send me a postcard (kitsch or cute, reality or technicolour touch-up, beauty or beast - the choice is yours) from wherever you are in the world to me in little old England? In return, I would like to offer you some beautiful jewellery as a prize.

Briefly, if you email me & tell me that you'd like to play, I'll send you a code number for every postcard that you'd like to send. Whenever I receive a postcard, I will scan it & post a picture of it along with the code number on this blog. Come the day of the draw to be held in, let's say, a month's time after the start of the competition, I shall press-gang my MILlie ( Mother In Law) into drawing a number out of the hat. Don't worry - there'll be some innocent bystanders to ensure justice.

No doubt you're wondering why I'd like to receive a postcard? I make art journals & I would dearly love to be able to make a memento book celebrating this new journey in my life. It's a cheeky notion on my part - why on earth would you want to go to all this trouble for me? May I offer you one more incentive? For every postcard I receive, I will donate $1 to Ovarian Cancer Action. I think I'll have to set a limit of $250 though- if I look down the side of the sofa, I might be able to increase the donation a little more!

Whilst you're having a ponder about whether you'd like to take part or not, I'm going to assemble & lavish love on the chain bracelet that will be the first prize.

So what do you think? Would you like to play? Have you any friends, forum buddies or net pals who might like to join in too? If so, in a few days time, I'll ask you to vote for the principle colour of the pendant which is going to be the second prize.

Later on, we'll need to talk about the earrings which I'd like to offer you as a third prize.

So my friends - who wants to shout 'PANTS to Ovarian Cancer' & play 'The Postcard Competition'? Add a comment or email me & say 'I'll play' so that I can see if this idea is a hit or a miss.

Many thanks for reading this post - Jennifer xox