The Cheesewring

So when severe weather warnings have been announced, storms forecast, where else do you head but Bodmin Moor?!

(Actually it wasn't that bad, and the rain started when we were safely back in the car!)

Farewell...

Apologies for my absence of late, it appears the Christmas rush has started! Yesterday I sold this beast, the last of my driftwood boats!

The customer wanted it personalised...

It's always bittersweet selling something you are particularly fond of, my very favourite part is the unusual shaped washer..

And it fitted in our little display cubby-hole perfectly!
Have to crack on and make some more now! And Salty Selina, I hope you enjoy your driftwood boat as much as we did!

More Christmas Goodies

I've been busy! All available to buy here.

Owl and the Moon

Thought I'd share my latest project with you - this little owl mobile for a friend who's about to have her first baby. The gender of the baby is unknown so I have tried to make it suitable for either sex (hence red and blue stitching on the eyes and nothing too girly, though it's v tempting!) The owl is stuffed with lavender to aid sleep (yeah, right, we can hope!) The moon part came about as a bit of an accident - I was wrapping the wooden embroidery hoop with strips of fabric and got about two thirds of the way around, realised it was a bit like a crescent, chopped the remaining third off and so the moon was created!!

The owl is not perfect - next time I'll make him shorter and wider - but it's an idea I might develop and sell as a gift for new borns. The trend seems to be for everything to be personalised which is an avenue I may well explore, although I would rather go for something very subtle: has anyone ever typed straight on to calico or even know if this is possible? If so I'll be looking out for an old fashioned typewriter- then I could wrap words or names around the moon!

Please feel free to leave your advice/ideas/comments!

Tree garland

I'd been trying out new Christmas cards and came up with this design (above). The fabric is actually stitched straight on to the card. I kind of liked it but there was something that wasn't quite right, so I took the idea and made in to something more 3 dimensional - what do you think?

I'm thinking I could make both strings of trees and individual ones to go on the tree itself...

I'm desperately looking for some polka dot fabric - linen if possible - with red dots on white/cream. Does anyone have any suggestions. For the time being I've comprimised and stitched some red beads on to plain linen, but it's quite time consuming!

Then I looked at the spotty trees and thought they looked a bit like toadstools so made one of these..

Okay, so they're not exactly traditional at Christmas, but they fit in with my red and white theme! Artistic license I think they call it. I reckon it's cute. Now I'm thinking about using this as a part of mobiles for little girls....STOP! I have to concentrate on Christmas for now! As usual my mind is six months ahead of my stitching fingers!!

Decorations will be available on Folksy soon.

Hope you're all having a good week!

Say Hello...

...to the latest addition to our family, this exquisite advent pixie made in Denmark. Herbie and I squealed with delight when we unwrapped him yesterday! I have coveted one for a few years now but decided that this year I had to have one! He wasn't cheap but I figure that he'll last a lifetime and will no doubt be a bit of an heirloom. He's actually taller than my six year old and the attention to detail is just amazing. Just a shame he's got to be stored in the attic for 11 months of the year...

And staying with the pixie theme, just look at this beautiful ribbon I've bought to use on my handmade Christmas decorations - will post some photos when they're done!!

Treasure hunting

We thought we'd take advantage of the lovely mild weather this afternoon (only 2 weeks until the clocks go back and I can't tell you how much I hate that) and headed off down to Seaton to blow away the cobwebs and do a bit of beachcombing.

Whilst the boys were happily rockpooling, look what caught my eye..

A tiny piece of seaweed stuck onto a pebble - so simple, yet really beautiful, it reminds me of Ferm Living's floral silhouette prints.

Alas, the beach was sadly lacking in driftwood and I'm starting to panic a bit because I have alot of Christmas cards to make and my supply in the shed (sorry, Steve's shed!) is dwindling.

But I did pick up some tiny driftwood twigs and made a card for my best friend (she doesn't read my blog as she's stuck somewhere in the 20th century) - a kind of shaker style Christmas tree with little shell fragment decorations. Not exactly a masterpiece, but she loves the beach as much as I do and I know she will appreciate it!

I noticed these steps for the first time today - and I am deeply envious of whoever lives at the top!

For all I know it may be a run-down shack, but how fantastic to be able to descend them every morning and see what the tide's washed up! Imagine that!

Amendment: Of course anyone who is remotely organised/intelligent would know that the clocks go back this weekend and not the one after - sorry!