Feeling impulsive today, I registered for a teeny tiny swap on behalf of my teeny tinies, one of whom cries if I send away a softie he likes and moans when parcels arrive addressed to me. You have time to join in if you're quick. It seemed like a nice thing for us to put together to mark the fast approaching end-of-summer.

For me, one of the nicest elements of swaps is getting to know a new blogger. With the Vintage Button Swap, my partner Sarah was blog-less. I couldn't believe that situation would last long and it hasn't. Her new blog is up and running - she's fretting about finding her voice, but skip across to check out Sara with an h, because she sounds just fine to me.

And just about managing to squeeze in a bit of merchandise crafting for the Craft Fair before we head off on our holidays. A pinecone and nut wreath. Very weird trying to get the Christmas vibe in August and not the best picture in artificial light.

Actually, taking pictures in natural light is one of my biggest problems. Johnny has stopped his daytime nap, so I only really have time for crafty pursuits when he's in bed and with the days getting shorter, there's a distinct lack of natural light for photos. I thought I had solved the problem when I came across a tutorial for building your own light box. All I needed was a cardboard box. I stopped at Tesco to pick one up but there were none to be found. They are running a promotion, giving you 'green points' for not using their plastic bags and every box in the place had been swiped by points crazed OAPs. I kid you not, I was beaten to the last one in the shop by a bloke with a walking stick. Guess my David Bailey aspirations will have to go on hold for a while.