Merry Christmas!

Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Christmas Eve has been busy for us so far, lots of cleaning, present wrapping, cooking (fudge) and visiting, but now I have decided to stop all chores and start christmas. Hooray!
: )

mmm...tunis cake!

Does anyone else remember Tunis Cake? I don't mean the poor copies now sold at Christmas by the supermarkets, but the original McVities one that we used to have years ago? Anyway, Holly and I found a recipe and made an attempt at making our own. Pouring the chocolate onto the top to set was fun, and Holly spent ages making the marzipan fruits. (Two have been eaten already). Tunis cake means it must be nearly Christmas!
: )

home for pins - orange

Finally! This little pincushion is now listed here, I know it took me a long time, it's that hectic time of year again already! How are your chritmas preparations going? I'm getting there slowly... : )
Look where I was on Friday - up in a helicopter flying over London! It was an amazing experience, especially for someone not great with heights! And a selection of picciolo items have been featured in these lovely treasuries. : )
The snow we had this week caused a few disruptions to our finely tuned schedule, as I'm sure it did to everyone else in the UK! Some good ones were having extra time at home, (Hollys dance class cancelled) leaving work early (no after-school club) and making a snowman, and Holly was the only one to get to her swimming class so it was like a private lesson! That certainly wore her out. The down sides were frozen brakes on my bike and lots of slippery ice everywhere. But it has all gone now, ready for the start of another week. : )
Christmas preparations are getting underway in our house, I am trying to get sorted early this year so that it doesn’t get so stressful nearer the time. That’s the plan anyway! I am also trying to restock my shop, it has been down to just two ‘homes for pins’ for a long while now, so I spent some enjoyable time this past weekend choosing and selecting new fabric and colour combinations. There are three new ones in the pipeline, this is the first one, (they are double sided) which has been listed here. : )

parcels

Its been another busy week here and all my good intentions on the blogging front have fallen by the wayside. But I’m here now, and this is the latest parcel being sent on its way for the purchaser to give as a Christmas present. Talking of which, have you started/finished your Christmas shopping yet? I am still reeling from the realisation earlier today that it is December next week, how did that happen? I have some new ‘homes for pins’ underway at the moment in new colour combinations, lots of pieces waiting to be sewn together, which will hopefully make it into the shop in the next few days. And I mustn’t forget the leaf pins either! : )

NEW! Mini ceramic & metal leaf decorations/tags

Do you remember a little while ago I showed you a little peek at some new work in progress? Well since then my ideas have gone off in two different directions, the first yet to be realized and the second is here! What more could you need to add some delicate sparkle to your Christmas tree, presents, or in fact anywhere around the house than these little ceramic pieces? And they could in fact be used all year round as the decorations are not specific Christmas motifs. They come in a set of three with a choice of two shapes – round or rectangular, and are ready-strung with gold thread. AVAILABLE HERE NOW. Each set is made to order so if you would like a larger set/different combination of shapes/patterns then that would be no problem.
: )

Last weekend of half price!

On Monday all currently listed picciolo Christmas items will be returning to their normal price, so stop by between now and then to grab a half price bargain while you still can! Click here Also, Holly was eight at the weekend, yes – 8 already!! We spent the day at a friends wedding, which was alright with her as she got to wear a beautiful dress all day, have fun watching a childrens entertainer, eat delicious food, do lots of dancing and go to bed late in a lovely hotel. She even got given a birthday cake, and all the wedding guests sang happy birthday! Eight must be a good age to be! : )
Amongst all our rushing around lately I have been trying to enjoy some of the beautiful autumnal colours that are everywhere at the moment. The first image here was taken on a Sunday morning walk this weekend, and the next one whilst in a queue for a ride at Disneyland Paris about 10 days ago. : )

Disneyland Paris!

I am still trying to catch up with my blog reading after a whirlwind week which included a three day visit to Disneyland Paris. We had an amazing and very tiring time, on one of the days we were in the parks for 12 hours, by then Stuart and I were shattered but Holly was still going! While we watched one of the shows the Disneyland castle was constantly changing colour, doesn’t it look pretty? : )
Well it's been another busy week which has included a party and a migraine, some gardening and running, costume making and cooking, and all the other usual day-to-day tasks. But I have started to turn my thoughts to Christmas (ahh!), this pic shows part of a thought process in action which may or may not come to anything! And I have popped the new box above into the shop here, in an attempt to add to the choice as other boxes have gone off to new homes. : )

Autumn blooms

Despite it being the middle of October our garden is blooming, here are a few quick shots I took earlier, it is a shame the weather means we aren't in the garden more to enjoy them! : )

Corners

Our house is a constant renovation project, but I feel that I have recently managed to turn a couple of corners into feeling more like home. First up is this corner of our landing, which is just big enough for this little armchair which I bought from Ikea especially.(OK, so I found it in the catalogue and then had to go the very next day to get it!) On it sits a cushion I made about 10 years ago from an old fleece dress and a denim jacket that had seen better days, and on the wall is one of my favourite pictures, by Angie Lewin. Yes we still need a carpet and to finish all the woodwork, but this is now a lovely little reading corner in an otherwise unused space. It makes me very happy! And secondly this wall is in our bedroom, which still needs to be replastered etc etc but it has made such a difference putting some of my pictures on the wall. My favourite is the frame containing the flower and leaf tiles – my dad made the frame and mounted them for me, isn’t it just gorgeous? : )

Silly Sale!!

Hello, yes I am still here! The last few weeks have been very busy and something had to give, unfortunately it was my poor little blog. We have been busy with home renovations (a new shower room, still in progress) and getting to grips with Holly’s new workload from junior school. (Lots more reading, spellings and times tables!) But I have managed to get back into the swing of things in time for the Uk etsy members Silly Sale! This officially starts tomorrow, Friday 8th October but lots of items are available now, including some half-price and better-than-half-price bargains from picciolo,(click here to see my silly sale section) or search ‘uk’ and ‘silly sale’ in etsy to find lots of wonderful things! And here are some of my favourites in a silly sale treasury, click the image to link to the items shown : ) And also a big thank you to sock pals who very kindly included one of my ceramic pendant necklaces in her recent 'folksy favourites' article - thank you! : )
Two more soft scalloped purses have made it into my shops, one here on etsy and one here on folksy. I really had fun choosing the colour combinations for these and I love how they all look together. Each one is one-of-a-kind, I have a few more to list but once they are gone they are gone! : )

bubbles and jellyfish

While the men in our house last weekend worked hard starting on our new shower room, the girls spent a lovely day on the South Bank. (We did have a lot of cleaning up of plaster dust waiting for us when we got home though.) We went on the London Eye, watched all the buskers, bought lunch from a wonderful food market by Festival Hall, and visited the aquarium. One of the highlights were these bubbles - Holly spent a good quarter of an hour trying to pop them! : )
Well, our holiday seems a distant memory already, not helped at all by the miserable weather here in the UK. Getting wet cycling to work every day certainly brings you back down to earth with a bump! But on the plus side we have come home to lots of produce ready on the allotment, and I have been making (and eating) more jam - plum, and raspberry and blackberry. I even had fun making some labels too. And I have at last photographed some new items, these handy pouches have two inside pockets and close with a magnetic snap. They are very soft and just perfect for keeping things together in your bag, or for make-up/ jewellery etc. Two are available here now, or if one has caught your eye that I haven’t listed yet just leave me a comment and I will list it especially for you. : )