Sorry - it's been a while....

I'm afraid that due to a huge amount of orders in November and December, blogging (both writing posts and reading others) had to be put on the back burner for a while. I feel like I haven't been here for ages! I promise not to neglect you like that again! I hope you all had a joyous festive break.
I remember last year writing a post about all the Christmas presents I'd made for family members: not much time for that this year (I suppose that's a good sign really) but Steve and I did find time to make something special for our niece, Molly....

Actually, the majority of the work was done by Steve, who designed and built this lovely rocking dolls crib. I should have documented with photos from the beginning, but I forgot!
The plywood and dowelling frame was first painted in deep red eggshell....

..and (this is where I came in) the edges were rubbed with candlewax...

Then the whole thing painted in antique white eggshell and rubbed down for a distressed finish.

I then made a mattress with a foam offcut and flannel sheet...

and made a pillow and pillowcase (the Cabbages and Roses spotty fabric was a Fleabay bargain), complete with ric-rac trim...

and the duvet? A Greengate teatowel folded in half with a couple of layers of wadding inside and lace ribbon detail...

Neat huh?

I think she likes it!
Happy New Year everyone - hope it's a great one for you all!

And the winners are...

...Louise Maidment, Rebecca, A, Julie and Knicky Knacks!
Congratulations to you all, if you could e-mail me your addresses, your robins will be with you sometime next week!

Another Giveaway!

Well, it is Christmas! There are 5 small prizes this time - a cinnamon robin for 5 lucky winners - just leave a comment stating whether you like the spotty or floral one, and I'll draw the names on Friday night. Bit of a rush-job, but Christmas seems to be hurtling towards us!
And don't worry if you're not a blogger, just leave a contact e-mail address!
Good luck everyone, and spread the word (it's the season of Goodwill, after all!)

Christmas at the Cowshed

Apologies for my absence of late, but I've been rather busy, not only with Folksy and NOTHS orders, but also building up stock to sell at this lovely event...

Country Living readers may well recognise the painting style - it's by local artist Nicky Harwood, better known as The Cow Lady. She is opening her studio to the public, and selling crafts and gifts made by other creative talents in the area.

So I've been making driftwood cards...

robins...

penguins...

lavender fish... and also collected everything else from my Folksy shop!

This whale cushion has been looking for a new home for some time - I hope he finds one this weekend!

I like seeing everything together in one place: it's strangely satisfying!

I don't remember showing you this large Christmas Owl in the Moon before - you can just make out the snowflakes falling if you look carefully! I just love that fabric, it came from Seamstar.

Anyway, I know many of you won't be able to make the long journey to attend the event, but I just wanted to stop by and say Hello and to wish you all a most excellent weekend!

Christmas at the Cowshed * November 20th and 21st * 10am to 5pm
Foyle Cottage, Dobwalls, Cornwall PL14 6JB

Just popping by...

...can't stop long - got a hundred and one things to do today! I just thought I'd share some photos of these new lovebirds with you! I've got a couple of Christmas craft fairs approaching and I was torn between making some cards (these always sell well as does anything else under a fiver!), or something a little more elaborate - something that will draw people to my stand.

So I'm on a mission now to do both! I made these birds in quite festive colours as I thought they would tie in well with my robins and other goodies.

I think they would look nice in a little girl's bedroom, no? It would be nice if they sold at one of the fairs, but if not I will list them in my Folksy shop.

I think the details are my favourite part...

This last picture makes me think of sweets for some reason!
Hope you're all well - and a huge welcome to new readers!
Back soon - have a good weekend folks xx

And the winner is....

.....(and I'm delighted about this)..... Amanda!
Now, regular and astute readers may remember that I won Amanda's Giveaway not long ago. So when my little boy picked her name out of the hat, my second thought (the first being 'Yay, I know how much she loves those robins') was 'Oh bum, this isn't going to look good!' But, people, you're going to have to take my word for it! The girl won it fair and square, so, Amanda, if you can message me with your address, I'll send the goodies on to you. Congratulations lovely lady, Christmas might have come a little bit early for you this year! And thank you to everyone who entered and left such lovely comments too!

I've been pretty busy making bits for Christmas Fayres etc - I took advantage of a special offer with Moo and received these super cute stickers last week. They only measure about 3cm wide.

I also bought myself a stamp set recently, and have been using them on my driftwood Christmas cards.
In the New Year, I might start making some personalised pictures or cards for children incorporating text using these stamps - but no time at the minute!
I had a bit of a lightbulb moment yesterday when I decided to combine two of my designs: the Owl In The Moon mobile and the cinnamon robins - and this is the result!

A Cinnamon Owl - perfect for hanging on the Christmas tree and available in my Folksy shop now!

And finally, I'm beginning to think that I should give joint ownership of this blog to Steve, who's been creating again: this time not with pallets or driftwood but cardboard and duct tape!

Here's Herbie who pestered his daddy to make him a shield (he got one, and a matching helmet to boot) but has now decided he wants him to make a dragon too! Some people are never satisfied!!

100th Post Giveaway!

Well it's taken me a long time, but I've finally made it to 100 posts - yay! And such lovely inspiring people I've had the privilige to meet along the way! Thank you to everyone who has left a comment on here, you are a constant encouragement to me. So to show my gratitude I am doing a little giveaway. Some of you like my driftwood stuff, others I know prefer the fabric pieces, so I wasn't sure what the prize should be. I have therefore decided to giveaway not one, not two but three items: hopefully that way everyone will be happy!
So here they are...

First up, one of my boats, created from Cornish driftwood. That piece of wood was that shape when I found it, just crying out to be transformed into a boat hull, don't you think?

And it's got some pinky coloured paint on it, so I have used co-ordinating fabric for the flags - a bit of a girlie boat, this one! I've put a brass hanger on the back so it can hang on the wall or propped up on a shelf or windowsill.

And prize number two....

Any regular readers will probably recognise that this wooden fish is actually a paintbrush handle (found on the beach). So I've turned it into a very simple keyring - might make an unusual stocking filler for somebody!

And finally, I found these beautiful teatowels by Greengate: much too pretty to dry the dishes with, so I've cut them up and made some new cinnamon robins. So the third part of the giveaway is this pair....

Such a nice morning outside I photographed them amongst the ivy - shame there's no holly in our garden, but ivy is the next best thing!

So that's the prizes (all for one lucky winner). All you have to do is leave a comment and I will put your name in a hat. Followers get an extra go (not too late to join up and follow me) and I would be most grateful if anyone wants to spread the word on Facebook, Twitter etc!
I will announce a winner next Monday evening (that's November 8)
Good luck everyone!