Crafty New Year

 The winter hearts here are some i made to add to gifts this christmas....scented with pot pourri or dotted with a fragrant winter scented oil, they are a sweet little extra to put inside a package, or hide in the pocket of a bag or other gift.....

                                                 ......or to hang on the outside of a gift bag......

 One of the best crafty things in 2011 for me was finally learning to crochet......and i have been making granny squares in my spare moments ever since that hot sunny day when i first began.......

 ........i made this cushion as a present  for one of my dearies who just loves pastel shades......

 ......and a bright one, below being wrapped up on my desk......having enjoyed the granny square for quite a few projects, i have now decided to move on to a granny stripe so will be back to show you that in the new year.........

 ......there is a big pile of fabric waiting in my studio for a whole host of exciting new projects....this year i will be working on my next book, well i already am, but it takes a while ;-) .......i love the thought of so much crafty creativity stretching ahead over the coming months....the feeling is one of real happiness......

 ....i wish you the same feeling of joy and happiness in your creative world this year too.......

Thank you for reading my blog during 2011 and for your very sweet comments and emails.....blogging is so much more than i realised when i began and i love to visit all of you around the world and share a little of your creative lives too....wishing you all a very Happy New Year and a wonderful, inspired and creative year ahead....back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Christmas Week

 We have had a wonderful christmas this year, and i hope you have too.....we are still enjoying our christmas week so i thought i'd just post a few pictures today taken around the house........

 ....i love scented candles and the wintry ones made with cloves, cinnamon and oranges are amongst my favourites.......

 .....we have spent most of christmas week with family and friends, with a lot of laughter and good times...

 ....plenty of festive food.....and willing helpers to cook and serve it......(new xmas oven gloves from this year and some from last year too ).....

                                           .....the christmas cake with simple decorations......

 .....and a little time for crafting here and there too....here is a peek at one of the crochet cushions......

.....i hope all is well where you are and you are enjoying your christmas week too....thank you for dropping in here to see me here today........wishing you a wonderful time in 'the bit inbetween'....back soon xxxxxx

Merry and Bright

 Not long now till the festivites start.....i am enjoying the last 'quiet' day before the holidays begin, and trying to finish off the things that are left to do.....i took the photos of the potting shed last week when i potted up some bulbs, some for our house and some as presents......i decided to put my chipped but still loved CK mugs to a new use...

 ...seeing the new bright green shoots is something i love in the middle of winter....makes me look forward even more to those garden days to come again in a few months....

 ....the potting shed is looking a little festive with children's stars to decorate the windows and a berried wreath on the door.....the tiny tree is now covered in tiny red and white baubles and stands in the kitchen....

 ......wrapping presents by candle light on a grey winter's afternoon, with a cup of tea and a candy cane.....

......i think all the presents are wrapped now, so that's one list ticked off.....and most of the other lists are done too, including my last magazine commission for the year, due for it's deadline in January.....

.....here is this year's christmas cushion for Crafts Beautiful magazine, a christmas present shaped cushion with a hand stitched tag and matching cross stitched card.......

.......thank you for your very kind comments about Merry Mouse, and for all your visits and comments during this busy time and over the year too, i love reading them so much ....i hope to be back very soon to show you my crafty christmas makes... and in the meantime i wish you all a very ......

                                            ***Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays***

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Merry Mouse

 A little mouse crept into our house on this last weekend before christmas.......her name is Merry.....and although she is quiet and rather timid she is a very merry and smiley mouse too.......

 .....as mice tend to do, she has been popping up here and there around the house, watching as we get on with our christmassy preparations, and as we come and go on errands and trips, she is always waiting when we return......

 ....she is a little white mouse with red skandi print ear linings and she has an embroidered felt top and a dala horse printed skirt......

 ......and a red bead for her nose (i looked in my bead box and there was exactly the one i wanted)....

 ......Merry Mouse is waiting beside the new musical biscuit tin, hoping it will soon be opened and there will be some treats for her to nibble......

 .......and just after the little mouse crept in this weekend, a wonderful parcel arrived........

 ...i was one of the lucky winners in the wonderful Bee Happy blog giveaway last week and the parcel contained this beautiful scarf......so soft, in subtle pretty colours, and so warm too...perfect to wear right now....thank you to Deb at Bee Happy for such a generous giveaway gift, I am really delighted.....do go and visit Bee Happy, and see her etsy shop, and  folksy shop too....

                           ......thank you to Bee Happy for knitting this lovely warm cosy scarf........

....now i think it's almost time for a mid morning cup of tea, and a little look at my list or i should say lists as i have quite a few of them now...the work/commission list, the christmas present list, the crafts i want to make list, the food list, the christmas to do list, and the every day to do list......yes, lots of them to keep track of...i might need a mince pie as well......
Thank you for dropping in to visit me today....i hope your lists are getting ticked off and all is peaceful where you are....enjoy the countdown and keep cosy....i'll be back soon xxxxxx

All Through the House

 It is a busy week here...as it is in most homes at the moment....and there is sooo much to think about and so many lists to make and keep checking.......i ran around the house with my camera, taking pictures here and there of the decorations ......the mantel above is in the lounge, which is painted in pale colours......

 .....the year it was painted i bought lots of pastel coloured tree decorations and we add a new one now and then....the look is frosty and icy and the tree has white lights...it looks pretty at night when the old glass ware i keep in that room reflects the lights and the candles, and when the log fire is lit in there.....

 ....as i have mentioned (many times) before, i love red and white decorations, and red and white textiles too...the whole Scandinavian look has been my favourite for a long time and this year the dining room dresser has a lot of red and white along with the usual simple white china that i keep there.......

.....and the sitting room is where we have the red and white decorated tree, ( the merry hearts red and white felt decorations always hang on this tree too)....last year i made a new mushroom merry heart but so far this year i haven't had a moment to make another but i might yet....

 ....lots of baking plans going on in the kitchen..... and i have been enjoying this wonderful book.... Bake & Decorate.... which was suggested to me by the lovely Madelief who kindly thought i would enjoy it, and indeed i do...it has so many lovely decorating ideas for all the seasons, including some charming xmas ones.....

.....and here are some sweet new tiny red and white baubles ready to go on a very small tree.....i hope to show you some more Christmas pictures very soon....
Thank you for popping in to see my Christmas house.....and thank you for taking time to read and comment when things are so very busy.......i hope you are enjoying the countdown to Christmas and finding time to relax and enjoy it all too......have a cheery cosy week....back soon xxxxxx

Sew Festive....and a Winner!

 This weekend I have been shopping and sewing....lots of Christmas presents have been gathered ready to wrap, and there is some secret sewing under way....... but first i must make an announcement.......

                                         ....the winner of the Woodland Winter Giveaway is.........
                                                               Apple Blossom Barn
                                                         
....congratulations to Denise, and if you would like to email me your address (my email is on the sidebar there) your parcel will soon be winging it's way to your pretty home........
i would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway, i loved reading your sweet comments and finding lots of different blogs to enjoy, and hearing from old blog friends too of course....i wish i could send a gift to you all....but i will be holding regular giveaways in 2012...so good luck in the next one!

.....And now for a little festive sewing......a while ago i showed you some lovely Liberty fabrics....

....i like to use Liberty tana lawn in small amounts and this little gift bag was a perfect project for that...

 ........i used it to bind the top edges of the thick pure wool felt bag.....and made some yo yo's too.....

 .....and here it is in this month's Sew magazine, with a redwork cross stitch bird design appliqued on the front as well.......

 .....and here is a matching Christmas tag i made too, using bright beads for an extra festive feel.....you can find more ideas at Sew magazine here.......

.....this Scandinavian style applique Christmas stocking was made for my book Simple Sewn Gifts, and i loved sewing it....the fabrics were from a delightful little bundle that one of my daughters brought me back from a college trip to Amsterdam,...so it was lovely to use them in this special project.....here it is hanging on my mantlepiece at the moment, with the candles lit and everything cosy.....
Thank you for visiting me here today...wishing you a wonderful week and warm and happy times...back soon with lots of Christmassy pictures xxxxxx 

Merry Wishes Quilt

 Since my last post it has been real quilt weather here....with icy cold winds blowing every day....so lucky that i finished my merry wishes quilt in time for the wintry weather and festive season i think....

.....it was just a quick and easy little quilt, made of simple squares of fabrics in mostly reds and greens, using up lots of my stash that had been around for a while and needed to make room for new fabrics.....

 .......i added labels here and there with xmas themes and cheery wishes....and then i remembered a baby quilt i made a few years ago that i added a pocket to, with a little stuffed teddy in it.....so i decided that the merry wishes quilt should have a pocket on the back too.......

 ....with a little stuffed heart in it, scented with delicious winter pot pourri, and with a little festive message stamped on the selvedge ribbon at the top.....i love making little fiddly things like this, especially when i should be doing something else really......

 ....i'm hoping that this quilt will be part of many merry memories this christmas and in the future .....

....a few more red and green things from this week.....a present for a friend who has a birthday next week and some delicious red currant jelly she made for us, my new red and green jingle bell wreath which jingled merrily in the back of the car all the way home when we bought it last week.....and bright and christmassy  flowers my lovely daughter and son in law gave me at the weekend....
It is still very cold here at the moment, and still very windy....lots of woolly layers are needed and i have begun knitting a new woolly scarf which i hope to show you soon.....hope you are keeping cosy (or pleasantly warm if you are over on the other side of the world).....

Thank you for visiting me and for the lovely comments.....tomorrow is the closing day for my giveaway and we will do the draw ready for me to reveal the winner next time......i hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week...back soon xxxxxxxxxx