Yesterday the lovely Michelle Douglas, from Not The Norm, came over and always glad of an excuse to go we took her to Incanto for dinner where we dined on fabulous food.

Today we had an appointment to see Swarovski's newest items and drool & ponder possibilities.

I, of course, fell in love with it all and have some exciting kits and ideas planned that I'm itching to try out.

But I was especially taken with the not-so-new patina effect they have on some stones. Available currently in 5 different versions (crystal black, crystal rose, crystal silver, crystal gold and crystal white) they, especially the silver, resemble mercury glass or a faded mirror and have an elegant and antique look to them. I already have a kit planned for them and look forward to introducing it soon.

After the preview it was a rush to get Michelle to her train home but we managed to stop in to Paul A. Young's Chocolates where I treated myself to Marmite, slow-roasted garlic and Cigar infused chocolates. All amazing and deliciously sweet and savoury all at once.

All the busy-ness and excitement soon wore me out and I headed home ready for bed. By 4pm I was fast asleep and dreaming of nothing but crystals and beading for the next 18 hours.