A Bunch of Flappers

This months meeting kicked off with news of upcoming events in the area.  Faye mentioned a ClassicCar Show in Harpenden on 30^th July.   She also mentioned that Battlers Green Farm are holding Knitting mornings and Ayletts Nurseries will be holding Sewing Bee mornings. 

From 19^th July to 10^th August Butterfly World will be holding the Worlds Largest Butterfly count.  For more information go to http://www.butterflyworldproject.com/

Tisa  took a moment to mention The Hertfordshire Roller Derby on 16^th August from 1pm – 6pm at Sportspace in Hemel Hempstead, if you would like to book tickets or for more information visit www.hertsrd.co.uk

Tisa then spoke about our Summer outing at the Luna Cinema on 23^rd July for an outdoor screening of Back to the Future.  Food will be available but picnics are welcome.  Please also make sure you bring a blanket to sit on.  There is free parking on site.  Rebecca London will be our Go-to-Gal on the night and she will update those with tickets on a meeting time and point. 

Emma C talked through the WI Newsletter and pointed out that St Albans City WI will be hosting a Quiz Night on 4^th October at the United Reformed Church Hall, Homewood Road, St Albans and teams of 6-8 are welcome to join and it is not limited to WI members, so bring along friends and family and the boys are allowed in too!   Tickets are £8.00 per person.  If you would like to reserve yours please contact 01727 865631 or 01727 865547

 

On the 22^nd October the Autumn Council Meeting will be held at the Hertford Theatre, Hertford and the speaker will be Julie Summers, the author of the fabulous book Jambusters, the story of the work of the WI in World War II.  Tickets are £5 and will be available from County House in August. 

Emma G mentioned that we will be hosting a Clothes Swap in September (date TBC) and even if you cannot attend on the night donations of clothing will be more than welcome.  We will keep you updated with information. 

Emma G mentioned that the next Group Meeting for St Albans District WI Groups will be held on 26^th September and there will be a speaker on 19^th Century Photography and a Female Barbershop Quartet.  Tickets are £4 and if you are interested in attending please let us know by contacting us on hertsbellesstalbanswi@gmail.com

Rebecca turned her attention to World Pomination – don’t worry she has not gone all megalomaniac on us, I said POM-ination!  Kirstie Allsop is trying to Break a World Record for the longest line of pom-poms, and hey why not!  You can make any size and bring them along to the next meeting where Rebecca will take them along to the local Hobbycraft for our entry to take part.  For those unsure how to make pom-poms these handy how to videos will do the trick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwKPRuhQB1A 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M9Dw4leyjw 

Lia spoke about next months meeting on 20^th August where we will be welcoming the amazing Jive Swing Dance Instructors to teach us a dance.  We were given the option of The Charleston or a Jazz routine and after a vote we decided on the Charleston!  This should be a really fun night and there will be a small charge of £5 to join in the evening. 

Our July activity then kicked off with Lia introducing back by popular demand the fabulous Sarah Dunn from Doo Wop Dos. 

The incredibly talented Sarah demonstrated how to create a 1920s faux bob and did a fabulous job on lucky Lia who was acting as Girls World model for the evening. 

 

 It was then over to our Belles to recreate the fabulous do and once again they did not disappoint, our talented gals did us proud once again and came up with some gorgeous creations – all whilst having a good laugh and a gossip at the same time – multi tasking at its best! Hurrah!!

 

And then all too soon the clock struck 10 and the evening was over and like fabulous 1920s versions of Cinderella off we fled into the night looking for the nearest Speakeasy ready for our Charleston lesson next month. So until then Belles... Stay Classy & Fabulous!  

 

xx

Afternoon Tea for The Scout Jamboree

One of our Belles, Fran, will be hosting an Afternoon Tea on 6th August 2014 to raise money for The Scout Jamboree in Japan 2015.  If you would like to attend, or can donate some yummy bakes then please RSVP to francesca.ingamells@businesseffectiveness.co.uk

St Albans Wacky Races

On Thursday 3rd July there will be wacky-cycle races being held throughout the day on the pedestrianised area of St Peter's street. 

It's free for all to enter and involves simple ten minute cycle routes around cones to promote sustainable transport by reminding people how enjoyable cycling can be.

 

Anyone entering can win a prize - success is based on participation not skill or mileage.  Prizes include:

• A hybrid mountain bike worth £650
• A Champneys Day Spa for Two 
• £100 Habitat vouchers
• A meal for two at Brassiere Blanc

 

It's a great way to show your support for sustainability and the St Albans community in general.  Bicycles will be provided - all you have to do is turn up.

Please email Lizzie Allen to book a time slot for your team: lizzie@challengeforchange.com

 

You are also welcome to bring your own bike along and take advantage of the Dr Bike Clinic offering free bicycle health checks and minor repairs.  A mobile garage from Watford Cycle Hub will also be on standby to do bigger repairs at a 10% discount.

Register at www.lovetoride.net/hertfordshire

Twisted Firestarters? Thankfully not today!

Our June meeting kicked off with our President Lia introducing the new Committee members to the group explaining a little about each of the roles. 

Rebecca spoke a little about the Trade Table to remind the Group that absolutely anything can be brought along, be it something you have made, something a friend has made or even if you are having a clear out and want to see if something will sell – remember one gals trash is another gals treasure!!   If you would like to bring along something to sell at any of the meetings then please get in touch with Rebecca via our email hertsbellesstalbanswi@gmail.com  

 

 

 

 

 

Tisa mentioned that our Summer outing this year would be to the Luna Cinema outdoor viewing of Back To The Future.  It is held at Highfield Park on the 23^rd July at 7.30pm, performance starts at 9.15pm.  Tickets are £12.50.  Tisa urged anybody who was interested to get in touch ASAP as tickets are limited.  A Facebook post and email has also been sent out. 

Emma spoke about Larks in the Parks and informed the Group that we will have a stall at Victoria Playing Fields on the 29^th June 2014. 

Lia informed the Group that we will be hosting a Clothes Swap event to raise funds for the Group and this will be held at a time to be confirmed in September, we will of course keep you updated on this.

Anya promoted Denman College and informed the Group that there are an abundance of courses aimed at all age groups from approximately £100 per day, this includes accommodation, meals etc.   Why not check out the website:  http://www.denmancollege.org.uk/

Lia reminded

the Group that the July meeting would be welcoming back the fabulous Sarah from Doo Wop Dos, who will be demonstrating 30s Finger Waves, so that is not one to be missed!

 

 

We then got down to the nitty gritty of our Speed Crafting evening, we divided into two groups, basically those who couldn’t wait to start playing with fire and those who couldn’t wait to start practicing their ninja knitting moves!

Faye demonstrated what I can only describe as a very impressive lesson on how to create a fabulous scarf using a huge amount of wool tied to your arm without getting tangled up in it!

Our gals did brilliantly and everyone had great fun in the process!

 

 

 

On the other side of the room we had Emma demonstrating how to create beautiful organza flower brooches/hair clips by burning the edges with a naked flame. 

Again there were some gorgeous results and we have only been left with a minor concern on how excitable our gals got when burning things!!

Once again a fabulous time was had by all and then it was over with far too soon and it was time to go home. 

Until next month mes amis!

 

x

Annus Fabulous!

Our May meeting saw us host our first Annual Meeting, where we discussed the success of the previous year.  And whilst we had a very successful first year, we stressed the importance of ensuring we continue to get involved in hosting fund raising events for the oncoming year to keep the Group running with continued success.   Your committee has been squirrelling away on ideas and have got some great things planned so keep checking back here for updates…

WI Advisor, Joyce Gray, put forward the Resolution for this year, which was to get people talking about Organ Donation.  Following much discussion, we put it to the vote and our Group voted ‘No’ on this Resolution.  However the final vote for the Nation was passed as ‘Yes’ and this Resolution will be put forward.  For more information on this, please visit the NFWI website  http://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/current-campaigns-and-initiatives/time-to-talk   

 

 Voting took place to elect our Group President for the Year ahead and I am pleased to announce that Lia Nelissen was elected.   Due to the ever expanding popularity of the Group, we decided that there was a lot to take on for just 5 people on the committee, so it was decided to extend it to 8 people and we were delighted with the enthusiasm of our members to join us. 

Ladies may I introduce you to your New Committee for the year ahead;

President:  Lia Nelissen

Secretary:  Emma Golding

Treasurer:  Dawn Golding

Vice President & Blogger/Designer:  Dawn Elliott

Trade Table:  Rebecca London

And Introducing our sparkly new members….

Faye Huges: Events & Skills Co-ordinator

Emma Merrygold Cannon: Events & Information Gatherer

Tisa Msanide:  Communications

We also have on the team as a Co-option, Anya Pearce, who will be running our Twitter account and pulling together our Press Announcements when required.

Sadly, we are unable to bring you our Cocktail making class this month, however we will be bringing it back later in the year!  This month Faye will be demonstrating Arm and Finger knitting – although from the mimed demonstration we got at the committee meeting I think that Ninja-knitting may be a more apt name!  It looks like it should be a fun activity to get involved in, so please bring along some wool – the chunkier the better!!

Emma Golding will be demonstrating our second activity of Organza Flowers.  To take part in this one you will need to bring along a tea light and a plate – we will be working with open flames so make sure that any tassles or dangly sleeves are well out the way!

Please remember our fabulous Trade Table will be in attendance and this month has a Crafty theme to it, so if you have any craft items you would like to sell then please bring them along!  Remember that our Trade Table is open to everyone and you can bring along absolutely anything to sell, something you have made, something a friend has made, or even if you’re just having a bit of a clear out – its all welcome!  We just ask for a 15% donation to our Group of your takings on the evening. 

See you on Wednesday!

Getting to Know You....

Our March meeting was all about getting our Belles mingling and getting to know each other better.   The gals were all given a number when they came in which ascertained what side of the table they would sit on.  We would then every 5 mins or so blow a whistle and whichever side of the table the whistle referred to, they would move down the table a couple of seats so they would then be sitting opposite somebody new and get chatting to them.  

Whilst all the frivolity of musical chairs was going on, we also gave our Belles the task of creating their own name badge out of felt and glitzing them up in any way they chose to see fit. 

 

 

The Committee Gals gave ourselves the unenviable task of choosing the best name badge, which we almost immediately decided would have to become the top three as by 10 minutes after starting the badges it was clear that it was going to be tough to choose just one.  When the time came to the actual judging we realised it was completely impossible to choose just 3 and stuck to our guns for a top 5!  (Well we are ladies after all, it is our prerogative to make up the rules as we go along!)

 

 

Our Belles Fabulous Efforts

I have to say we have some ridiculously creative and talented ladies in our group and every badge was fabulous.   However after much deliberation we chose our Fab Five and they were…. Drum roll please……

 Bonnie, Caroline, Emma, Jill and Melanie !!!

Winners of the Top 5 Badges Accolade

 

Congratulations to our Top 5 and a very well done to everyone who took part creating gorgeous badges and making our task as judges extremely difficult. 

 
We of course had our Trade Table in attendance which this month was craft themed.  Remember if you would like to bring along something to sell (either for yourself or on a friends behalf) then please contact Rebecca London on hertsbellesstalbanswi@gmail.com   15% of profits go to the Group. 

Trade Table at March Meeting

 

Keep an eye out on the Meeting Dates Tab here on the blog and of course check our Facebook page for news of our next meeting.  Sadly Anya will no longer be able to host the frilly knickers workshop in April, but fear not - we at Belles HQ have got our heads together and come up with an equally fabulous activity for you so check back soon...

Until next time Belles, bye for now!

 x