Brightening Up January

We have had some moments of sunshine in amongst the dreary rain showers over the last few days, now that term has started and I'm back at work. I've noticed them as I flit around school, and just for a couple of minutes it's felt wonderful. The sky has been bright and clear, and my reactive glasses have turned into sunglasses by the time I got indoors again. It has felt like a foretaste of spring, even though there's a good while to go before it arrives. In the garden bulbs are coming up and a single pale yellow daffodil is blooming, certainly the earliest one I can remember for a very long time, a result of the incredibly mild temperatures we've had so far this winter. The weather forecast is predicting more wintry weather next week with snow falling in some places, and dropping temperatures. I'm ready, but I hope that nature can cope with this, now that it thinks spring is here.

Indoors I've followed my yearly tradition of having bulbs on the kitchen windowsill as soon as Christmas is over. The hyacinth bulbs which I potted up back in October have come up a lovely shade of soft pink with the most delicious fragrance. They really are such a treat, and not very expensive at all if you buy the bulbs in the autumn and put them in a pot full of compost yourself. From mid-spring onwards when they have finished blooming I always plant them outside in the garden and enjoy them growing there in following years.

This one is changing colour from green to the palest blue.

I've squeezed in a bit of creativity this weekend with some jewellery-making. It only took me 20 minutes to make a pair of cranberry-coloured earrings and a ceramic button necklace. You may notice that it's got a small crack across it. After I bought the button in Cornwall last summer I managed to drop it onto our newly-tiled kitchen floor. You can imagine how cross I was! However it was a clean break and I repaired it with some superglue, and I think it's not too noticeable, as it's far too nice a button to throw away.

After the excess of Christmas I'm enjoying a simpler diet again and am drinking herb teas. We have quite a collection of them in our kitchen cupboard as D is very keen on them, but this Rose Lemonade tea is one of mine. As you know, I love roses to smell, admire and to cook with. This tea really captures the essence of a scented garden and makes me dream of summer.

In recent years I've enjoy dispelling the January gloom with some sparkly light in the form of fairy lights festooned around the dining room, and this year is no exception.

And on the kitchen shelves too. You can't have enough of them in my opinion. They brighten the house and are often half price or less in the sales after Christmas.

On the subject of light, I thought I'd show you the scented candles which I made last month. I couldn't reveal them before as they were Christmas presents for my friends. I made three batches of soy wax candles in different colours and added essential oils to them. There were sweet orange, geranium and lavender and lavender and lemon ones. I had such fun making them and packaging them up in pretty cellophane and ribbons.

I bought these vintage teacups last summer at a garden which we visited, and filled them with lemon and lavender-scented wax in a pale yellow colour. They do smell good.

I love lighting candles at this dark time of year, and am calmed and cheered by their flickering flames.

It's even better if they're in a twinkly glass holder.

Three years ago when it last snowed properly here I took a couple of candles outside in the snow for a mini photo-shoot. I love the wintry combination of fire and ice, and enjoyed watching the flames reflecting off the white fluffy crystals around them. 

Who knows? Perhaps we'll have some of the white stuff here this week. It's certainly turned a lot colder. Wherever you are I hope you stay cosy and enjoy a bit of sparkle too.

See you soon x

A Creative Catch-Up

Well, it's the final week of our summer holidays here and it's pouring with rain. I've got a good few things I plan to get done this week as well as appointments, a bit of catching up with friends and, last but not least, some creative time. I started as I meant to go on this weekend with some time spent in my shed making things. Here's Miss Blossom who lives in the shed. She's spent the summer swathed in roses - very nice too.

I've managed to spend a couple of afternoons and mornings out there in sun and rain, and love it very much indeed. I did some jewellery-making the other day. It's such a pleasure to be able to spread out my stuff as much as I please and not to have to tidy everything away each time I finish.

I keep my bead mat and tools in a shallow tin so that nothing rolls away and I don't lose things. Here I was repairing D's necklace and making her some gemstone chip bracelets.

On another afternoon I also made some very simple amethyst and flourite earrings...

...and some haematite ones. I'll probably wear these for work.

Here's a little wire hare which I made a while ago. I twisted him from silver wire and gave him blue glass bead eyes. He's only tiny and sits on a pebble catching the sunshine.

I've also been doing a bit of crochet too. This is a mandala which I made to Lucy's design at the start of the summer. I put the colours of roses, sweet Williams and blue skies into it. I think that the last few rows went a bit awry and don't quite match the pattern, but I'm happy with it.

Recently I've been fidgety and restless and not able to get into my crochet. I've just not been feeling it - you know what I mean, don't you, dear reader? I lost my crochet oomph. Making little items wasn't really grabbing my attention and I felt I needed something a bit larger with lots of repetitive rows. Once again, an Attic 24 pattern came to mind - Lucy's stripy bag. Here's one I made a few years ago which I use all the time.

I chose lots of bright, fresh colours - a real mix with the dominant colour a lovely cherry red.

Feeling very excited at the prospect of a new project I chose my colours. I wanted to capture the colours of late summer, now that the colours are jewel-like. The old gold will be the main colour and for me it's the colour of cornfields and harvests. The deep mauve is the heather-clad moors at this time of year, the dark pink the colour of fuchsias and dark geraniums. The orange is the colour of bright nasturtiums and calendulas, and the green the soft colour of their leaves. Finally I wanted a deep blue for late summer skies and warm nights. I'm still not convinced about this royal blue and may swap it for something more azure. This bag will use up some of my stash of cotton yarn, and it's mainly Rico Creative Cotton, but there's some Twilley's Freedom Sincere and some Rowan Handknit Cotton too.

I lit my Wild Gorse scented candle (one of my birthday presents last year) and settled down to make a circle for the base of the bag.

It grew quite quickly, and I'm loving doing it. I'd love to start a blanket, but after my incredibly slow progress with J's university blanket last year I think I'll stick to something more manageable for the time being.

While we are in my shed I thought I'd show you around a bit. Here's my seasonal noticeboard made from a piece of cardboard, gingham fabric, cotton tape and split pins. I change what's on it to reflect the seasons. At the moment there's lots of purply lavender and heather colours. The little artificial thistle and heather corsage at the top is a souvenir from our several holidays to Edinburgh when the children were younger. We used to take them to the Fringe festival and enjoy exploring the city and surrounding area too. We hope we'll go back one year soon.

Here are some honesty seed pods which I grew this year and am drying. I'm hoping they'll go a lovely silvery white, but it's not looking promising. Despite that, they're very pretty as their colour fades.

This little set of wire shelves lived in the kitchen until its refit and now I'm using it in my shed. I've got all sorts of pots, jars and knick-knacks on it and a summery retro ice lollies postcard too.

I always harvest our lavender and dry it. Here it is waiting for me to strip the flowers from the stalks and store it in bags, ready to use. Aaah, the smell!

I have a collection of seaside things on my desk. A small jar of seaglass (I have a couple of small boxes of it, collected from many beaches over many years), some sand, smooth pebbles,

and a few wonderful striped cockle shells from Zeeland this summer. I have plans for these.

And here's my bright collection of knitting needles and a little textile pot which I crocheted from yarn made from recycled saris.

I hope you've enjoyed being out in the shed with me. I've loved showing you around my creative little space. It's been good to have the company - do drop in again. With a week to go before I'm back at work, I'm going to sit down and make those curtains now. Perhaps that rain might even ease a bit...

Best Bits

The New Year is fast approaching, and I've been thinking about 2014 and all of the lovely things which I've recorded in my blog this year. Without doubt, the best thing of all was starting it in the first place. I had been reading some wonderful blogs over the last few years, and had always been  rather shy about leaving comments. My children kept telling me to start my own, and in April I finally did! I've had the best fun ever since then, making lots of lovely new friends in the blog world, and being able to write about all the things which mean something to me. I so value everyone's comments, and am excited every time I read a new one. 

I've loved being able to share my love of flowers throughout the year. As the months pass there are so many fabulous blooms to enjoy in my own garden, and in some beautiful gardens which I've visited. Flowers really do make me very happy indeed!

Some amazingly delicate and colourful wild flowers can be found on walks in the countryside, along pathways, and even growing on pavements in towns and cities. They really are delightful little discoveries.

It's been a creative year too. Working full-time in term time means that I do my making in evenings and weekends, so I generally start quite small projects. I start to become a bit bored if something I'm making goes on for too long - perhaps I'm too impatient! Here are a few of the things I've made this year, some from my own design, and others from designs in books or shared by other generous bloggers. I learnt to needlefelt this year, and plan to do some more soon.

Last year we managed to get out and about on some lovely day trips, and on short local ones too. I love the anticipation of heading off somewhere wonderfully familiar or excitingly new, with a picnic and my camera.

I've enjoyed cooking this year, and love to make seasonal recipes as the year progresses. Locally produced or foraged food, along with flowers, marks the changing seasons and I get a sense of satisfaction when I cook recipes which I've been making for years. Old favourites like garlic pesto in the spring, lavender or rose shortbread in the summer, and squash soup in the autumn fall reassuringly into order as the months pass. I love to discover new ones too which I add to my well-used collection. This year I tried damson and gin and some new ice cream flavours.

There have been some wonderful skies this year, and I have been ready with my camera to capture them. Most have been sunrises which I spot from the window when I'm getting ready for work. Sunsets often take place when I'm busy elsewhere and I miss a good many of them. I love clouds too, and have enjoyed spotting stunning cloud formations.

I hope you've enjoyed my little wander down memory lane, and will come with me as we venture into 2015.

I'm looking forward to the New Year x

Liebster Award - Second Part

After Jill at Emerald Cottage kindly nominated me for the Liebster award, I posted the first part of my response here in which I revealed 11 random things about myself. Now it's time to answer the 11 questions that Jill posed for me, so here goes!

1) What is your favourite craft activity?
At the moment I'd say crochet, sewing and jewellery-making in that order.

2) What was the last project you finished?
Three blue and pink necklaces which I'll blog about soon.

3) What would be your ideal crafted gift to receive?
An intricately crafted patchwork quilt, because I never seem to have time for really big projects.

4) What is your favourite season?
Late spring, although early autumn comes a very close second.

5) What is your favourite craft-related non-blog website?
Probably Pinterest because it's stuffed with ideas, and also Ravelry. The time flies when I'm on either of these websites.

6) Which craft activity have you never done but would like to try?
One day I'd love to have a go at stained glass-making, and make some beautiful panels for our front door, like this.

(Julia Mills Glass Design)

7)What was the last magazine you bought?
Country Living, my favourite. I love the gorgeous photography and lovely locations, as well as the seasonal crafts and recipes.

8) What was the last book you read?
'Under Milk Wood' by Dylan Thomas, a poetry play for voices set in the fictional Welsh town of Llareggub. I love his use of language and the vivid characters. BBC1 have been screening a Dylan Thomas season recently, as this year is the centenary of his birth.

9) What did you want to be when you were little?

When I was young my best friend and I always wanted to have our own craft shop together. I also wanted to be an author/illustrator.

10) What is your favourite thing about blogging?
Discovering a lovely community of creative, friendly people!

11) How did you choose the name of your blog?

I wanted to make it personal to my home and who I am. My husband noted the other day that our door is actually quite purple, but I think 'The House with the Purpley-Blue Door' isn't quite as snappy!

There - that's enough about me! It's time to nominate some other lovely blogs for the award. I'm afraid I've only managed four, but I've really enjoyed discovering lots of other crafty people out there in blog-land. So, I nominate:

Hawthorn at I live, I love, I craft, I am me
Elizabeth at Thomasina Tittlemouse
Steph at Caravan Crafts
Caz at Wainwright &Wright Co

And here are my questions for those nominees:

1) Which place has most inspired you creatively?
2) How many craft projects do you have on the go at the moment?
3) Where would your ideal picnic-place be?
4) Which is your favourite craft book?
5) Have you made any clothes for yourself?
6) What is your favourite colour?
7) Do you have a favourite craft-related TV programme?
8) Do you have a favourite seasonal recipe?
9) Is there something you'd like to make, but haven't got around to yet?
10) What have you most enjoyed making?
11) What made you decide to start a blog?

So that's it - have fun visiting the blogs I've nominated!

See you soon x