Serendipity,  a ‘happy accident’ ..it’s one of my favourite words.  The older I get, the more aware I am of the opportunities created by the serendipitous nature of the every day.  And this week’s happy accident all started with carrot cake!

I had an overdue hair appointment with my usual hairdresser, but in a different place because he is waiting to open his new salon.  The appointment was long, so I took my Kindle and by the time my hair was deemed ready for the basin, the main character in the book had visited several coffee shops and eaten quite a lot of carrot cake.  I found myself yearning for carrot cake.   Having mentioned my craving, Jon, my hairdresser had the answer.  The best carrot cake in Norwich he assured me, just up the road from where I was sitting.

Trips into Norwich these days are usually fraught with the need to get home to make my Mum’s lunch or walk Higgins, but today unusually my Mum was cared for, and Tim was on Higgins duty so I decided that lunch was going to be a slice of carrot cake and a cappuccino.  Very decadent!

It was very nice carrot cake (and if you are a fan and find yourself in the Norwich Lanes visit the House Cafe and tell me if I’m right!) and, suitably replete I wandered back down the road doing a spot of window shopping.   I ground to halt out side a shop full of the gorgeous fabric.  So I just had to go in.

The shop is Arts Desire, and the Serendipity Fairy had just waved her magic wand…

…and it’s one of those shops you just want to move into.  I would so love a wall like this…

…and all that pretty china.  Here’s some of the gorgeous fabric…

..and there are kits…

…and ribbons…

…and more ribbons…

…it was all absolutely…

I do rather think I need that cushion!

And there was a dachshund!

Behind all this gorgeousness I found a Craft Lounge offering workshops in Lampshade Making, Knitting, Crochet, wet Felt making, Sewing, Quilting and Silver jewellery making.  It’s Norwich’s answer to the Makery in Bath!

I had just established that there were no Needlefelting classes on offer when the owner returned from lunch and after ten minutes of nattering and comparing notes we had a cunning plan.

I regularly get emails asking if I teach Needlefelting  Classes, and mostly I just teach private groups.  Finding a good venue that people can get to easily has been the main drawback and Norwich has good routes from most places these days.  So the Craft Lounge at Arts Desire, just off the centre of the city will be the perfect place to hold Needlefelt Workshops.

There are no dates as yet but it will be after Open Studios is over from the middle of June onwards.  If you are interested please follow this link and leave your contact details (mentioning Planet Penny/needlefelt) in your message  and we will keep you up to date.

Don’t despair if you are tempted by all this loveliness and live too far away because there is also an online shop and a Facebook Page so there are lots more goodies to drool over!

I will be back on Sunday with the results of the draw for  the Ruth Cross book ‘The Knitted Home’.  There’s still time to enter if you haven’t already, just leave your knitting story in the comments on the post here.

I will also have details of yet another great prize which I have been given to offer to you, so don’t forget to call back to take part.

See you soon…x