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!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

And with a slight hangover I didn't feel like exerting myself too much, so after a little mooch in the shed, I took this piece of lovely thick plywood which has bright white fibreglass on one side. I'd found an extra-long paintbrush handle on the coast near the Lizard a few weeks ago and been unsure what to do with it. The ply was slightly longer than the 'fish' and set the colour off perfectly so I chose to make a very simple hanging plaque....

Look at all those layers of different coloured paint!

It could be hung outside - maybe on a shed or summerhouse door...

Or maybe on the bathroom door...

But for now it looks at home hanging on a peg in my studio!

Available to buy in my Folksy shop!

Psssssst! I'm going to do a Giveaway next time to celebrate 100 posts. Don't miss it!

It's beginning to smell alot like Christmas....

.....largely due to this huge pack of cinnamon sticks which was delivered yesterday. Mmmmm, smells wonderful!

I usually cut the sticks in half to use as perches for my individual robins, but I got distracted (again!) and decided to have a little play...

...and this was the result!


The mistletoe is basically a wire 'frame which I then wrapped in dotty fabric - finished off with a vintage button 'berry'. Available in my Folksy shop.
Best get on with what I'm supposed to be doing now! Hope you're all having a good week x

Facebook Giveaway and more of Steve's makes!

The beach was an absolute mess on Saturday! Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but let me tell you it was thick with seaweed! Not the most pleasant of conditions to be beachcombing in, although it was another warm sunny day - aren't we being spoiled this October?!
Anyway, there wasn't a huge amount of 'treasure' to be found, but I collected lots of little bits of bleached wood - which showed up brightly amongst the dull, dark seaweed.
And this is what I made when I got home...

The sun was still out so I sat in the garden with my drill and threaded them onto thick wire - most relaxing! (Herbie thought I was making a necklace at first!)The wreath is about 50cm in diameter.
I've decided to offer it as a giveaway prize on Facebook: if you're on FB already, just leave a comment and you'll be put into the draw (if you want to sign up to my page, simply click on FB symbol in righthand sidebar). If you're not on FB (lucky you, you probably have an extra few hours a week spare than those of us that are!), don't worry, I'm approaching 100 posts on here, so I will giveaway something on here too - promise!

The photo was taken about a month ago, where Steve discovered 2 lovely weathered scaffolding planks on the beach.... and carried them like this all the way back to the car (it was a long walk too!)
But he had an idea in his head, and this is what he knocked up the next weekend!!

The light's not good today, but you get the idea, I'm sure!

It's blimmin' heavy I can tell you!

And d'you remember this post where I dropped a subtle hint about wanting a couple of pallet chairs for the boys' room?

Haha, my wish is his command!! They look great, no?

And the storage part at the top is perfect for hold pens etc. He's not just a pretty face!!

More paintbrush fish!

Hello my lovelies and a warm welcome to any new followers! I hope that many of you have been blessed, like us here in Cornwall, with warm sunny weather this weekend - such a bonus this time of year! It was definitely t-shirt weather here this afternoon - Herbie even asked if we could get the paddling pool out!
We had a very fruitful trip to the beach earlier - collected lots of little pieces of driftwood for cards and a huge amount of old paintbrush handles! Unfortunately they were plastic rather than wood, but they come in a nice assortment of colours, so I decided to put my plastic snobbery aside and get creating!
So this is the first piece showing a driftwood fishing boat and its 'haul'...

I've called it ' A Fine Catch'

I think the 'buoy' might be part of a fishing rod or float, but I'm not sure!
We also found this bit of plywood on the beach yesterday. It's got some old green paint on it, so I chose some co-ordinating fish from my large pile to make a unique and unusual wallhanging...

It's currently hanging in our hallway, but I think it would add a nice decorative touch to someone's shed... the rope would rot eventually, but the wood and 'fish' are obviously weather-resistant!
Both are available in my Folksy shop.

So what do you think? Can plastic be pretty? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Goodies in the post!

You know how most days the postman just brings boring bank statements or annoying junkmail? Well, not today! I had not one but four exciting packages arrive this morning!
I have to tell you about this giveaway I won over at Amanda's blog - I'm sure some of you even entered yourselves...but I was the very lucky winner!

Look - a gorgeous book - The Bag Making Bible -which I am looking forward to studying tonight once the children are in bed!

This sweet little brooch made by Amanda

Some fab organic cotton fabric - not sure what to create with this yet, but it will be put to good use at some point!

And did you see the bunny in the top picture? It is so intricate, this is a close-up of my favourite bit - love that harlequin ribbon!
Thank you Amanda for your generous gifts! If you're not familiar with her blog, pop over and say Hi!

So what else can I show you? Ah yes, some lovely ticking from Emma Garry...

so that I can make some more of these...

In another envelope: I'm loving this reversible Danish ribbon from NotOnTheHighStreet.com...

Talking of which, the first NOTHS Christmas catalogue arrived today....

Recognise anything familiar on this page?!

Or what about this one? This is from the November issue of Good Housekeeping! A bit of press for Kirsty Elson Designs! How exciting!

Hope you're having a great week xx