Calm and Bright

We have had a lovely christmas and i hope you all have too.........it seemed to pass so quickly.......we had a lot of happy times with older and younger members of the family and it was a real pleasure to see the children's shining eyes and rosy cheeks on christmas day...............

 ............i had been sewing right up to christmas and again soon after because i love it soooo much....crafting makes me happy :)...........this is a textile themed drawstring bag for giving hand made gifts in, and then for using to neatly store away crafty items or to take small projects about in.....i will be using one for my new crochet project (more about that soon)...............

...........and this adorable fabric bowl was made by my sweet blog friend teje who is so talented and makes really lovely things for her etsy shop here and whose lovely blog is here...........i saw the fabric bowl on teje's blog and immediately loved it so was very glad she had one in her shop.....it fits in perfectly in my sewing room and i have loved looking at it over christmas :).............teje also sent me a lovely gift................

 ...........this sweet little soft pinwheel star decoration which will be treasured for many christmases to come......

...........here are a few little pictures from our christmas home............a silvery blackbirdie, pretty glass containers and candle holders, a little glimpse of the gorgeous jingle bells bunting which was designed, printed and constructed for me by my daughter rosie......(this is another treat to treasure for the future too)............ and teje's lovely bowl filled with festive fruits.......

..........we had a little christmas tea party here yesterday for various family members............i am thinking i have maybe had enough mince pies now ;)..........

..............a gorgeous greengate cup holding some pretty little tete a tete bulbs was an extra surprise present from my daughter sarah..........

.............one of the things i love most about the time around new year is having bulbs coming into flower, especially hyacinths, narcissi and paperwhites ..........they are so deliciously scented and the pure colours and crisp flowers cheer up even the dullest of days.........we have had a lot of rain here and some very squelchy muddy country walks and breezy seasidey ones............

............still a few days of holiday to go for mr p and we are making the most of it...........i hope you have  had a happy holiday over the past week too..............thank you for reading my blog and for your very sweet comments and emails.............it's wonderful to be in touch with so many other crafters around the world and to share our makes and crafty lives............wishing you all a very Happy New Year and a fabulous, inspired and creative year in 2013................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxx

Home for Christmas

 Home is where my heart is that's for sure, especially at christmas time......i've been cosying up our home this week ready for the festivities to start at the weekend........lots still to do and despite the many lists and the multiple checking of them i always forget something but it never really matters.............

.........i have managed to find some crafting time too of course, and made this little elfin house cushion....

..........i am so loving these candy colours together too, a mix of some of my recent favourite fabric scraps...

........some little winter elfin homes made from simple life fabrics........love the pink floral with the blue gingham............but i also love so many of the other prints too.....so had to make a couple more........

                           ............snowy and frosty effects thanks to wonderful picmonkey............

 .........i made some little ginger sponge cakes this week, with lemon flavoured icing and finally used the cross stitch effect reindeer and snowflake cake toppers that i bought last year.......we all enjoyed them as well as some mince pies..........and some snow bites.........

 ..........i have a few wreaths around the house, most are quite simple, one is made from red and green jingle bells, bought last year, another is a very bright shiny bauble one.......sometimes a friend of mine makes us a fresh garland for the front door which always looks so pretty.........

..............and some of the hyacinths i planted in various odd containers are flowering now and scenting the air along with the winter candles............

 ..........i am still wrapping presents, and some have still to arrive from online ordering but there is still time....
just about (fingers crossed).........thank you for dropping in to see me here in my little blog home, especially at this busy busy time of year.......it's always so lovely to see you :)................

............i would like to send everyone who reads my blog my warmest wishes for a very happy and peaceful christmas........sending love to all my dear readers and sweet blog friends and wishing you all happy holidays.........back soon (in the bit inbetween) xxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Tis The Season...

........to be crafting :)........and one of the crafty things i have loved making recently is a new bunny........

                                                            .............meet little nell............

             .............here she is with the most adorable package of christmas blocks ...............

..............and here she is amongst the christmassy things on the dresser, looking very cheery in her red gingham skirt (with matching ear linings), lots of buttons, a small applique crown patch on her red felt coat to celebrate the rather regal year we've had here in old blighty, and a sweet bow at her waist................

..........as well as crafting little nell, i have been decking the halls with all sorts of greenery from our garden..... we have some sweet little rosehips, still loads of red berries, and so much ivy to pick from......

..................i love using the greengate jugs for flowers and foliage, they look so pretty to me.............

 ...........and the crafty decorations are all in place now........not too many of them this year, i'm finding a more simple and pared down look is creating a peaceful feel.........still loving the red and white though :).....

 ........little nell has now climbed into a brown cardboard box and nestled down in layers of soft tissue paper......because she had a journey to make............

                ...........she has gone off to a new loving home, taking merry wishes with her..................

.......i am sending you all lots of merry wishes too as we get closer and closer to christmas....i hope you are enjoying the countdown of the days, feeling merry and bright and jolly too............thank you so much for visiting me here in my little space............it's wonderful to see you..........back soon xxxxoooxxxoooxxx

Cosy Winter

Winter is really here this week.....it's been sooo cold and the wind has been howling round our old house.....time to keep the heating on, get out the scarves and boots.......light the candles.........and have lots of hot drinks..........

..........and to do some cosy crochet too, inspired by a recent visit to the nearby botanical gardens we love to see, and a tree there filled with bright pinky red berries growing in huge lustrous clusters..............

 ..........i made this winterberry cushion to add some crochet cosiness to our sofa this winter................

 ...........i am now planning another crochet project.......i almost forgot how much i enjoy it with all the sewing i've been doing lately........it may be winter outside but in my studio it's spring.......i've been drawing, stitching, sewing and embroidering some cheery spring themes for magazine commissions this week.....it's birdies and blossom all the way........:)

........i have been doing some xmas shopping too....online and handmade........and some of my gift buying was from chipper nelly here..........the lovely fee made this adorable little box containing.............

.....this little treasure ( might have to get one of my own)......i also received some beautiful swap blocks too which i will show next time, and the presents for my dearies will have to be secret until after xmas.......you can also still enter fee's  gorgeous giveaway over one her chipper nelly blog here.............

........in my cosy winter sewing room this week i am using this delightful pincushion from my long time lovely blog friend debbie whose work has always been my cup of tea........i love her sense of colour and design.....you can find her pretty blog here and her etsy shop here..............

 .........this bright and colourful bookazine has just been published containing plenty of projects by lots of  international cross stitch designers........i have a project in it featuring two cross stitched linen bears ..........

...........and to keep me cosy in the evenings while watching some good dvds and sweet old festive movies, is my farmer's wife quilt steadily being hand quilted.........i am loving sewing it, and as each block is different it makes the quilting so varied and interesting........i wonder what i will do when it's finished, i've been working on it so long i think i'll miss it :0............

...........thank you for dropping in to my cosy bit of blogland today......it's a pleasure to see you and thank you for leaving me such sweet comments and for your emails too......(if i haven't got back to you yet, i will very soon)...........i hope you are enjoying this countdown to christmas and feeling the christmas spirit whether you are in chilly old blighty, somewhere even colder or somewhere much warmer..........enjoy your winter week to the full..................back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

More Merry Making

This is what i made with the hexies i mentioned a couple of posts ago........the ones i took to london with me to sew if i got a spare moment or two...... i sewed up the hexies into a flower shape, made a matching one for the back, sewed the two sides together and padded the decoration with toy filling.........i decided to make the little decoration even more festive by adding a red applique star in the middle...............

............and some jingle bells.................. 

..........everyone here liked the red and green hexie decoration with the star in the centre so i decided to make a red and white one too, using much smaller hexies............it is such a good way of using up very tiny scraps of sweet fabrics............nothing goes to waste with little projects like these...............

...........i will probably add some silver jingle bells to these and a little more handstitching to the liberty floral and pink dot  hexie decoration shown below.........

 ............besides hanging them on my red and white themed christmas tree i am thinking they would be nice to tie on the outside of a gift or to hang on a gift bag handle as an extra handmade touch, and to be kept as an ornament by the recipient............you could also make them in vintage sheet fabrics or in bright jewel colours with lots of metallic thread embroidery..............

                              ..............here they are hanging on my dresser at the moment..............

.......and at night hanging in the kitchen where the fairy lights have magically appeared just as we are about to step in to december, and just as the satsumas always do too :)....................... below right is a picture of the last of my new christmas hearts, this time made from a lovely bright red pam kitty morning floral, with a shiny green jingle bell, rubber stamp image and mistletoe sprig made from green felt and a white button...........

...........this week we celebrated my lovely mr p's birthday........ i gave him some brown paper packages tied up with string and adorned with special tags from old motor magazines that i found in my scrapbook supplies stash..........he had a delicious birthday cake made by sarah.............he also had some yummy homemade biscuits to enjoy ;)............yes, i did use my new cookie stamp .....................

............it worked  quite well...... these are the test ones, so i now know to press the cookie stamp quite firmly to make the word impression clear but not so hard that the cookie needs to be prised off the board with a palette knife and becomes stretched and misshapen ............home made means a bit quirky, yes?

..........some gorgeous roses given to me by daisy (as a thank you for looking after her for a few hours).....they look so fresh and beautiful and i combined them with some of the amazing  hydrangeas from the garden which are turning so many wonderful shades of soft red, pale green and lavender...........

...........thank you for dropping by to see me here, it is always wonderful to have your visits .......i am going to do some blog visiting myself now :)......i hope you all enjoy a very happy weekend as we enter the most festive month of the year.....................back soon xxxxxxxxx