yum

Part of our weekend was spent assembling this little gingerbread house (we nearly had a disaster as the roof threatened to slide off) and lots of christmassy biscuits to give to Holly's teachers. What fun! And somehow we made loads of biscuits so there are some left for us too. Yum.
: )

new!

Today I have had a much needed day off, which included christmas shopping and a back massage. Luckily the massage was after the shopping! I also managed to take some photos of my newest item while it was daylight, I'm really happy with it and want to keep one myself so tonight I am planning on sewing some more, I can't wait. This little feather keyring/bag charm can be found here.
: )

london

Holly and I had a day out in London yesterday, and we packed in lots of christmas shopping, a time machine bus tour, (which was brilliant) hot chocolate, chair-o-planes on Regent Street and a look at the big christmas tree in Trafalgar Square. What we weren't expecting were the literally hundreds of people dressed as Father Christmas in Trafalgar Square, it was crazy! We got given chocolates and christmas hugs, I don't know why there were so many Santas but it was certainly christmassy!!
: )

presents

This cheeky chap is my first ever attempt at a sock dog, I think he turned out quite cute - I hope the person he is intended for thinks so on Chrismas morning.
And at last I have updated my folksy shop for all of you in the UK, check out some new things here!
: )

christmas is coming

This new little kraft moleskine is now available here, the colours in this one are one of my favourites I think! And as Chrsitmas is getting closer I have started on presents, this stack of felt and fabric is hopefully on its way to becoming a gift. : )

New original artworks, leaves and feathers

I’ve been a busy bee lately, my creative head seems to be resurfacing after being filled to bursting with other things, and here are some of the results. The first of a new set of original fabric artworks, no two will ever be the same. I transfer my designs onto soft white denim and then hand stitch with a mix of embroidery cottons, I love the texture and colour that the stitches bring. Each one is approx. A4 in size, and fit the aperture of my 8x10 frame (shown in the pictures).

These two are available here, more on the way very soon. : )

soft stars

The last few soft star decorations will be appearing in my etsy shop soon, these two are there now, click here
: )

feathers

The first of some brand new picciolo items, a return of the moleskine!
This handy little moleskine 'volant' cahier notebook has a unique handstitched feather on the front. The feather design has been transfered onto soft white denim, then hand sewn, with the edges slightly frayed to complete the look. This first one is listed here, more colours will be following soon. A perfect stocking filler, no two of these notebooks will be the same and would be a one of a kind present!
: )

It worked!!

The birthday rainbow cake was a success!! I'm so pleased (and relieved). Holly was very excited and cutting it was a bit scary as I had lots of people looking on, but it turned out even better than I had hoped. Phew!! : )
(Gel/paste food colourings are amazing and well worth the money, and edible glitter is too good to resist, as you can see I certainly didn't, the top of the cake was super glittery!!) Well, you are only 9 once!)

autumn running

I must admit to stopping whilst out running to snap these pictures of autumn approaching!
: )

colourful cakes

Colour tests took place today for a certain little girls birthday cake, we were very happy with the results, but unfortunately just had to eat them. (yum)
: )
So, we painted our pots! Lots of fun was had, lots of concentration and lots of colour mixing.
Other highlights of my weekend: the summery sunshine and temperatures, getting wet on a log flume, seeing percy the pufferfish at the aquarium, turfing part of the garden, dancing the night away in a new dress (that I made! I will take some pictures), going for a run, a lovely roast lunch, Holly dressed as minnie mouse for a fancy dress party, and cleaning the oven. (Well, it can't all be fun!)
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: )

pots

Holly and I have been very excited over the summer about starting a ceramics course especially for families. Then the day before it was due to start last week I got a phone call to say it had been cancelled. But we didn't let that stop us! I bought some air drying clay and we had a go at pinch pots on the dining room table, these are our results, waiting to be painted.
: )

My nan

It's been a very sad week this week, I can't find the words but my sister has explained why over here. : (
Four little foldable fabric boxes, off on their travels to a new home on the other side of the world : )

after and before

Using some oilcloth and lots of glue I now have this lovely bench in the garden, this is what it looked like before. : )
There have been some major changes around here lately. I don't want to go into details but I am trying to get this show back on the road. Virtual hugs gratefully accepted!

A royal wedding

Holly and I joined the crowds in London on Friday to soak up the atmosphere from the royal wedding, what a great day (and sore feet) we had. We started off here, on Parliment Street, not far from Westminster Abbey. We also walked round to Trafalgar Square and saw the big screens, did some shopping and ended up on The Mall just in time for the fly past. And as it was my birthday too, macaroons to bring home were a must! : )

Easter fun

We had Holly's cousin over to stay for a night this weekend, as has become a little tradition at Easter. I send them on an Easter egg hunt, we make and bake lots of Easter things and they have lots of the usual sleepover fun too. The only downside was that the weather was too hot for the chocolate easter nests we made to travel anywhere in the car, so we had to keep all of them... yum! (And the ranunculus' at the top were from my husband, they are the most beautiful colour) : )

new part two

Full range now available here. I can't decide which is my favourite, this is the one I have worn the most so far, with some of my summer tops and dresses that have been making an appearance now that the weather is warming up! : )

NEW! - diamonds and triangles

Brand new Spring/summer collection! Find out more about the first designs here, the other colourways in the main photo will follow very soon! : )

3rd prize!!

These beautiful eggs are the results from this kit which I have long admired on etsy. Holly had a school easter egg competition and we thought this would be perfect, she had great fun wrapping the eggs, with a little bit of help from me to make sure the fabric was tight. And today she found out that she came third, so I have one happy little girl. : )

Spring is here!

I couldn't resist showing you some of the lovely daffodils/narcissi we have had in the garden over the last couple of weeks. This is their first year, and Holly helped to choose the 12 varieties we planted so we have been eagerly waiting for them all to bloom so we could decide our favourites. But then my frittilaries flowered and (almost) blew the daffodils away with their beautiful flowers. Which do you prefer? : )