Yesterday I was incredibly honoured to be able to join my lifelong friend (we were at school together!) Sheila Hannon as her guest at a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. Sheila founded and runs Show of Strength Theatre Company in Bristol (www.showofstrength.org.uk) and is also an actress, producer, director, writer and a great friend. We had a wonderful girly day in the fantastic grounds. It was bitterly cold but dry and we saw so many of the Royal Family including The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall AND The Duchess of Cambridge.
Here we are in our finery!

I was recently lucky enough to see Priscilla Queen of the Desert in Torquay. It was a brilliant evening with a capacity house and a company oozing enthusiasm and life. It’s a fabulous show and with extensive tour dates you can hopefully catch it over the next few months. I left the theatre still smiling and continued to sing the songs for at least a week! Don’t miss it!

I am thrilled to tell you that I have been nominated for an Inspirational Woman Venus Award! The lovely Sam Curtis, who is our Senior Relationship Manager for Commercial Banking made the nomination so it’s fingers crossed once again!

Thank you so much for your good luck messages before last nights Mail Order Industry Awards. I am delighted to say your support has enabled us once again to win Best All Round Business in our category. This was our third consecutive win so I am thrilled.
This really is an award for us all as it is about the business itself so a huge thank you to customers and suppliers all over the world and, especially, my wonderful team at IDS.
Jillian, Jonathan and I partied the night away. “Official” pictures will follow!

Sometimes the photographer, who this week is Andy, has to get creative in order to get he best shot. This time we took the picture from up a ladder in order to get the best shot of this amazing hat.

Models are still joining us from all over the country. We have had some lovely smiling faces and they are all very excited about the new outfits and accessories they are seeing.
However there will always be some hanging around…….

Today we have had lots of models but a very calm atmosphere and some fantastic shots. Sadly you can’t see them yet but you can have a preview of one of today’s models.
Professional dancer Evie Ball joined us for the day. Before joining The Royal Ballet School Evie trained with one of my ex pupils-Lorna Proctor in Crosby, Liverpool. She was a beautiful model and we have some gorgeous images.
Here she is on set and also having her make up applied by Richard (our stylist)and her hair by Paula (one of my IDS colleagues). They are also both from Liverpool originally so I had to join them all for a Liverpool photo!

Today we have been joined by five beautiful students from Portugal! They have travelled all the way to Devon with their parents and dance teacher to model for our next catalogue.
Here they are having hair and make up and at the end of the session they all joined me on the stage for a fun group photo.

I am sure photography comes round faster each year. We had our first day of shooting yesterday in the wonderful surrounds if Dartington Hall in Devon. With an amazing dance history, Darrtington is the perfect venue for us.
We have lots of young dancers joining us from all over the UK and even some who are coming all the way from Portugal to take part.
Here are some sneak peeks from on the set.

It seems like ages ago now as we are so busy, but last month Jillian, my Systems and Production Manager, and I attended the ISTD dinner dance in London.
It was good to catch up with so many of our ISTD friends as well as many others in the dance industry. We were treated to a wonderful cabaret as well as the music if Riss Mitchell and his band.
Here is Jillian at the event.