Last Week...

Firing...

Reading...

Receiving...

Growing...

Looking...

 

Pattern & Colour at RAMM

Yesterday we visited the newly re-opened RAMM at Exeter

It's a lovely museum -  just big enough and small enough to 

keep little minds (and feet) busy and interested.

Lots of weird and wonderful things to look at.

Some great reference material for me too...

Unexpected

 Weymouth Beach, out of season.

Extraordinarily beautiful.

Motto

I wasn't expecting to be quite so busy in January, 

I was expecting at least a week or two of extended tea breaks

and gentle tidyupping after all the festive mayhem.

But WALLOP, straight in with 3 commissions,

press requests, website designing and, er, the occasional tea break.

So, I have adopted this as my motto 

when I feel less than satisfied with my day's progress.

Thank You

A few of my favourite Christmas presents...

1) Vintage tea set from my best friend

2) Lisa Jones Beaver Mug from my sister

3) Triple Word Score Scrabble rosette by Sami Teasedale 

(which is from, er, myself... it's a long story)

The kids are back to school tomorrow, and therefore I am back to work.

It has been one of the best Christmas holidays I can think of.

Wonderful times with family and friends, 

non-stop laughter, delicious food, thoughtful presents...

I am left feeling very blessed and grateful.  And full of chocolate.

2012

A list of things I am feeling very excited about in 2012

(in no particular order)

Both children in school 9-3 five days a week

Decluttering

Re-organising workshop and office

Starting work on three commissions

Making myself a new website

Magazine interview

Spa Day with my very lovely sister

Making some new designs that have been 

floating around in my head for too long

Redecorating

A weekend away with my best girlfriends

Swimming more regularly

Submitting work for an exhibition here

Spring returning

Daylight

Not looking pallid

Family camping weekends

Being more organised

Being more proactive

How about you?

Sunny Day collage by Isla

More Freebies...

I'm officially on holiday now.

All orders have been despatched and I'm fully in Christmas mode.

By which I mean I have a horrible cold and 

Stones Ginger Wine within arm's reach at all times.

I might even wrap some presents tonight.

And, as well as these, I might use some of the
free printable gift tags I've been bookmarking:

from

from

from

from

Okay, this last one's not free, but they are gorgeous.

from

I don't know if I'll get a chance to do another post before the 25th,

so I shall wish you all...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Have a wonderful time xxx

D.I.Y. Paper Chains

We've been having fun making paper chains.

Firstly we just cut up A4 sheets of coloured paper into strips across the width...

...but then I remembered some wonderful Eastern European embroidery designs 

on some faded paper that my mum had unearthed in a dusty old shop

on a visit to the Czech Republic a couple of years ago.

A bit of scanning, slicing and sticking later....

To make them, you will need: 

Good quality A4 paper (I used card from the pound shop)

A ruler, cutting mat, sharp blade, pencil, double sided tape.

You can download the three A4 sheets I used as printable PDFs here:

Sheet 1

Sheet 2

Sheet 3

Enjoy!

(Let me know if there are any problems with the downloading,
I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to things like this!)

Last Chance

There's still just enough time to place an order 

for "made to order" items in my shops (UK only)

Last order date is Tuesday 13th December.

I do have some items in stock and ready to post though.

Last date for those will be 20th December.

Hey Look That's Me

Yes, this very blog that you are reading right here has been recommended

as one of Channel 4 Homes favourite craft blogs.

If you're visiting from the 4Homes website...

Hello! 

Pop-up Shop

I'll be taking part in this Pop-up Shop event at The Pie Factory

in the hip n' cool Old Town, Margate, Kent between 16th - 23rd December.

There'll be lots of fab makers and doers joining in, including Ohh Deer, 

Rachel Loves Bob, Tri and Gull, Sanna Panda amongst others.

A great chance to pick up some last minute Christmas presents.

Find

Was really excited* to find this little vintage Waechtersbach pot 

in the charity shop the other day.

(*read: grabbed it out of window display and ran to the till)

If you'd like to see more of this Dick Bruna-esque range of ceramics,

there's a whole Flickr pool dedicated to it.