Kids Christmas Performance - Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

Just a quick advert for the kids Saturday Drama group/school they attend in Heanor.

The Oceantide Entertainments Academy Workshop is performing Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde at St Lawrence Church, Heanor from Wednesday 3rd to Saturday 6th December 2008.

With music by Tim Saward and book & lyrics by Thos Ribbits, it promises to be a great evening - judging by the script practises we've heard at home - extremely funny as well.

All performances start at 7pm with tickets costing £6 for concessions, £8 for adults (concessionary price not available for Fri or Sat performances).

To book tickets or enquire about joining the Academy, call the 24 hour box office number on 0871 245 3520.

Don't forget your own pictures of family members taking part in a hobby or pastime make great personalised photo gifts. And with Christmas coming up, now is the time to stock up on a few Christmas presents (of the personalised kind).

Fluffy photo cushion loving lot

Wow! What a response to the photo cushions (well all the new photo gifts we recently introduced but in particular the photo cushions) - with hurried orders to our local cushion filling making lady for more more more.

We'll be announcing the August Photo Competition winner in the next couple of days - sorry for the delay but it's been manic here at Fabulous Photo Gifts workshop from the moment the kids went back to school.

We have something very special for October but more on that later this month!

We've also been so very pleased to keep receiving your very kind comments on our photo gift range and our service from customers old and new - here's a sample from the last couple of weeks....

"Just a quick thank you. The jigsaw was great. It was a birthday gift and the recipiant said that it was the best present that he had been given." D.

"Am delighted with the colour saturation and print quality. Fantastic. It's great." M.S

"Thank you for the fabulous place mats - I was really pleased with them, they look great and you were able to do a quick turnaround." E.L.

Fabulous Photo Gifts.

Our first Photo Gifts Newsletter

Click here to read a copy of our newsletter.

Our customers just received their first Fabulous Photo Gifts newsletter packed with news on our new products as well as a reminder of our old favourites.

They were also reminded of our September Photo Gift competition.

Below is a screen grab of the newsletter. If you'd like to read a copy yourself, click here or click on the screen grab above.

To get your name added to our mailing list for next month's newsletter, simply email your details to newsletter@purple13.co.uk and we'll add you for next time.

Bye for now.

In a week where...

In a week where the Team GB at the Paralympics have racked up a great number of medals (well done), the world almost ended when some crazy Swiss scientists switched on the Hadron Collider only to discover they'd plugged in the world's largest kettle and I came across a recipe for a quick tomato and lentil soup, you may have missed the recent addition of a larger glass chopping board to the Fabulous Photo Gifts range of photo gifts.

Also overheard was a conversation on the radio about whether women would rather be pretty or smart (the two ladies in the presenting team both giggled they'd rather be pretty), whilst the online communities remembered 9/11 (the 7th anniversary) with posts and blogs across the world.

You can tell things are getting back to normal though, even in this parallel universe, as the last kids finally returned to school and straight away it seems, peoples thoughts are turning towards Christmas?

We've noticed a lot more online traffic in general and in particular our new Photo Cushions are generating a lot of interest, particularly with the 3 choices - personalised cushion cover only, personalised cushion cover with 'fluffy' filling (soft) or luxury hand made over stuffed filling. The choice is yours.

Whether your shopping early for Christmas or need a birthday, anniversary or thank you gift, we've got loads of photo gift ideas that you can personalise with your own photographs, online, at Fabulous Photo Gifts.

See you there!

Office day out to the Heights of Abraham - Matlock Bath

With it being the last weekend before the kids went back to school, we took a day off to visit a more local visitor attraction in Derbyshire and visited the Heights of Abraham at Matlock Bath.

Matlock Bath - a pretty promenade of gift shops, restaurants, amusement arcades and chip shops was once a famous spa town with people coming to take the waters.

In more recent times, its also home to a number of other visitor attractions including a alpine style cable car ride to the Heights of Abraham - caverns, restaurant and fossil centre to name but a few of the attractions awaiting you when you reach the top.

Of course if cable cars aren't your thing (they certainly aren't mine) then you can take the extremely invigorating walk to the top via a well travelled broad pathway through the upper streets of Matlock Bath and the lower parts of the estate.

The Heights of Abraham boasts two cavern tours, both lasting about 20 to 30 mins each. Narrow and low at points, visitors are guided along the paths and steps (there's one point at the very end of the uppermost cavern tour where you have to climb a set of metal steps back to the surface (again my issue with heights meant i turned around and walked back the way i'd come, frightening the life out of the next party trooping through the low dim passageways.

Don't forget your camera's as there are some breathtaking views down onto Matlock Bath itself and in the opposite direction towards Matlock.

The kids rode down on the Cable Car finishing off an enjoyable day out for us all. Even the repeating film of when a Blue Peter presenter joined the cable car rescue team for a rescue exercise didn't put them off (all set to the James Bond theme music).

The cable car runs from the bottom of Matlock Bath next to the railway station. It rises steeply to clear the A6 road and the RIver Derwent climbing up to the top visitor lodge.

Tickets are sold separately for the cable car ride (single or double journey) the cavern tours etc and walking in as we did meant we paid only for entrance rather than entrance and cable car. Quite a saving as only two of us were brave enough to take the few minutes ride to the bottom.

As I said some great photo opportunities to be had from the top. There's even a watch tower to climb for an even better view so don't forget to personalise your memories of a very special day out in Derbyshire Peak District from our selection of hand printed personalised photo gifts.

September Photo Competition announced - Back to School theme

September's great photo competition announced - Back to School!

Yes that's right. Our now legendary monthly photo competition here at Fabulous Photo Gifts for September 08 is themed on 'Back to School' photographs.



Any order placed during September that's being personalised with a back to school themed photograph will automatically be entered into our free competition. The winner will be announced both here and on our own online tv 'channel' over at the Fabulous Photo Gifts website.

The winner will receive a personalised small luxury photo easel with the winning photograph on it, in addition to their own order.

So what a great way to have a little extra something for yourself or get in early with an extra Christmas present.

We'll be announcing the winner of Augusts photo competition which was themed on Holidays very soon.

Watch this space and good luck. Don't forget, any order placed during September with a back to school themed photograph qualifies - no need to do anything more (except maybe cross your fingers you win!).

Photography courses soon start at college

The nights are definitely drawing in which can mean only one thing. Yes - those college evening studies will soon be starting.

And many of you will probably be attending a photography course of some description, having spent the summer snapping away, now you're ready to increase your technical knowledge or maybe just want to join up with a group of like-minded people who share an interest in photography?

Well we'd like to wish you good luck with your courses and hopefully, you'll have some splendid pictures along the way that might just make some excellent Christmas gift ideas when coupled with our ever increasing range of personalised photo gifts.

Hopefully we'll get some fine weather days so you can venture out into the 'field', camera kit back in hand and capture some really exciting landscapes or how about the kids messing about in the autumn leaves? Everything becomes a photographic opportunity and todays modern digital cameras are producing better, clearer, sharper pictures than ever before.

We've certainly noticed an increase in the quality of photographs customers upload when placing their orders.

Also, it's apparent that digital point and shoot cameras are getting better when it comes to tone and colour balance. Especially those pictures that are taken in strong sunlight. Colours are more vibrant and real than ever before. (hark at me - sounds like i'm doing a commercial for a hair spray!).

Well you get my drift.

So having done night classes myself, if you haven't already then now is an excellent time to explore what's on around you at the local evening classes, it doesn't have to be photography of course, but whatever you decide to do, enjoy it!