Hope you all had a lovely Christmas

It's been a while!! Hope you all had a really lovely Christmas, we all did, it was nice and quiet and just the four of us, we went to visit Grandma and Grandad at the farm, had a gorgeous breakfast, got some gifts from Santa and then had a lovely rest of the day at home. We are all totally tired and sleeping lots, even Gabs!! she was the last one up yesterday, that is a first!!
Fin and Gabs did however try to get up at 1.00 am on Christmas morning! needless to say the pair of them were sent back to bed, they did eventually get to sleep and we ended up not getting up until 8.30! Fab!
I am loving the lie ins I must say. I do not miss the school run at all and am actually quite glad that we have another week free of it yet!
Now that the mad time of Christmas is over, I went back into work after being closed for a few days to be greeted with a massive mess in my work area! so New Years res no:1 TIDY  UP! blimey what a tip.
I can now show you a commission I had for a seaside project as they have now been given out, I did show these in a gallery exhibition but have had commissions from the originals, this is one of them,

I really enjoyed doing these as they are always different as customers ask for messages to be placed in the postcards which are relevant to their family, I have a few to do for presents later in the new year.
I hope that you all have a great New Year celebration whatever you may be doing and see you all in 2012!

Handmade Christmas

It would seem everyone is having a handmade Christmas this year, I am really enjoying making all my decs and thought I would show you these new ones,

It is such fun getting them all ready and I have a more than willing helper in Gabs!! Obviously I give Gabs her own to paint and decorate for her own little tree in her bedroom, she just loves to sit and paint and has made some lovely ones, though I do have to keep an eye on the amount of  my favourite stickles glitter she uses as she is rather partial to it!
A little news about Fin. He has a championship match in Table Tennis tomorrow, Well done Fin!! he is very glad as it is school time so he misses Literacy!! hmmm Fin, somehow I think you will have to catch up anyway! His footy weekends have been a bit of a disaster lately, they lost again this Sunday 4-0, Fin got injured on top of an already injured leg, but went back on anyway. i am going to have to put my foot down before long as he is not getting any better but won't give in!
Gabs doesn't really say much about school, except what she had for dinner and who she played with!
Speaking of school, time for reading books and spelling tests!
Have  a lovely week everyone.

Christmas Goodies from Bloggy friends!

I have had some lovely thing this week from people I have met through blogging. I am a real fan of Jenny Arnott and have ordered some of her lovely things for my shop, here are a few,

  All the above are by Jenny who handmakes all her work from her studio in Somerset,she has a lovely website, blog and also Etsy, Folksy and Not on the High Street shops. Her blog can be found here,
http://jennyarnott.blogspot.com/
Another delivery I had this week was a batch of new Christmas cards by the lovely Julia Crossland, Julia paints fantastic pictures from her riverside studio in the Peak District near Sheffield and makes some into prints and cards. I had some cards last Christmas and also during this summer have sold her everyday cards, particularly seaside scenes as living in Scarborough they go very well, here is some of Julia's work, the first picture being her gorgeous new Christmas cards for this year, my latest delivery,

Julia has a terrific website  and a lovely blog which you can find here,

http://juliacrossland.blogspot.com/

I am also hoping that Julia is going to do an exhibition of her paintings in the Summer of 2012 at

http://www.eatmecafe.com/

This is a local cafe on the same street as my shop, the two owners now also have a micro gallery which used to be my old shop! I help to run it and organise exhibitors, it is fun and something different, so it will be fab if Julia exhibits! if you click onto the above site you can connect to the link for the gallery.


It so great to have met these people through blogging, just shows that blogging really can be worth all the effort! I love to have these two ladies work in my shop it fits in along side my handmade items and takes a little bit of pressure off me to handmake everything in there, (which I can't!!) I spend my whole days making cards, notebooks, pictures and Christmas ornaments at the moment!, I have just done a vintage style friendship set today, here it is,

Fin and Gabs are just doing their homework so I am grabbing a few minutes to do this or it will be too late as usual!
They are back into school nicely and gearing up for all the winter term activities, loads of them!!! Fin is on all teams he can possibly be on and spends his whole weekend when not playing footy relaxing to prepare for the next week! Table Tennis match tomorrow and inter school footy matches.
Gabs started her recorder today so she is pleased about that, she is also desperate to learn Piano, has always loved it so I think I may have to sort that out for her, she is turning out to be quite theatrical and enjoys drama, not the dancing, singing side just the drama and she really is funny when she does little performances!
Funny how they are so different! Fin, like me, would be mortified to do any kind of Drama in front of anyone! Gabs however does follow her big brother and loves to play footy with him much to his annoyance!
Now off to test both Fin and Gabs on their spellings and listen to reading books before bed!
Have a great week everyone.

Just a quickie

Had to tell any of you that don't already know, Jenny Arnott is having a fab give away, these lovely buttons are just one of the great prizes, head on over to
jennyarnott.blogspot.com/  and enter!

Wouldn't you just love to win!!!

Halloween, Vintage Fair, Dads Birthday and a Wedding Anniversary

It has been a busy few days here at Fin and Gabs!! What with Halloween, making for the Vintage Fair, My Dads Birthday and our Wedding Anniversary!
Firstly the Vintage Fair went really well, it was at a new venue and we had some new exhibitors join us. A good day was had by all, here are some pics,

 The above ones are some pics of my bits and pieces, the following are the other lovely peoples collection of things,

These pics were taken by Cheryl Ann, she has done a lovely post over at her blog,
cheryl-anntaylor.blogspot.com/
in a lot more detail so if you have not seen Cheryl's blog try and take a look.

Then Halloween which is also my Dads birthday and our Wedding Anniversary, we managed to fit it all in though, went to see Dad, had a walk by the sea, went trick or treating with Gabs, (Fin not interested this year!!) and actually had a couple of hours for a drink with Will, thanks to a friend who didn't mind babysitting on Halloween! We have been married 14 years now, do not know where that time went!

I have been making a few new things as well,

Love this Fabric!!

This was  a commission I had, I made another one but just slightly different.

We all love a bit of red and white polka dot!
So all in all it has been quite busy, I now am just going to spend some time drawing some new designs for spring for a company and concentrate on Christmas at work only!! Plus Fin and Gabs are back at school today so it will be back to the homework and reading books and going to bed at a reasonable hour! I don't know bout you but I tend to let mine stay up a bit later in holiday time and then suffer for it when I try to get them to bed earlier for school! All my own fault of course.
Have a lovely week everyone.

New Christmas Makes

I have been busy making new Christmas Makes. I have made lots of assorted Christmas Cards but have this year I have actually made a set of four hand drawn ones and had them printed so I can just hand finish and glitter them and this is the end result.

I am pretty pleased with them as I don't normally do the printed thing but have had to as I cannot keep drawing them! I have also been making some ornaments, here are some that are finished,

I just love Christmas! even though it does seem to get earlier and earlier every year!
It is half term here now and I am trying to be out and about with Fin and Gabs if I can, saying that Fins friends keep turning up, I forget he is 11 now and doesn't really want to be with me all the time anymore! I can't get used to that. Gabs is at Grandmas with her cousin Kianna for the night so they will be having a lovely time and no doubt up to mischief around the farm. Dad has just had three thousand piglets arrive so the girls will be loving that.
Gabs and I popped into Marks&Spencer today and I love their Christmas Shop, they have some great stuff this year and have bought some wrapping paper that I love, I could have bought quite a few items but restrained myself as I do limit myself to only one or two new things each year.
Have a great week everyone and if it is your half term hope it stays dry so we can all get out for a walk!

The winner is....and Christmas Homespun & Vintage Fair

Jut a quick post to announce the winner of the Halloween giveaway, Gabs chose this time (again!!) and out the hat this time was Hannah@Bubble Bay. Well done Hannah! Hannah has a lovely blog
http://bubblebaydesigns.blogspot.com/
If you haven't seen it already, go take a look!
Your goodies will be on your way to you soon Hannah.
I have had a busy week this week with a mixture of Wedding work, Halloween and Christmas!! Plus getting ready for the Christmas Vintage Fair.

 
I cannot believe this has come around again! where has the time gone!! Look forward to seeing you there if you can make it!
Have a happy Sunday everyone.

Making Magazine and giveaway still open

A while back I mentioned that I had some work for a new magazine, well now that it's out I can tell you which one it was. I was asked by Making Magazine if I would like to do a photograph album project for the current issue, obviously I  said yes! and here is the result. It is a Scandi chic issue and it really is lovely with lots of fab things and inspiration.

I am extending the giveaway to win the set of three Halloween ornaments until Saturday and will announce the winner on Sunday 23 October (need to make some more and forgot to put a set aside!!) so tonight whilst watching Downton I am painting Ghosties, Pumpkins and Witches!!
Happy Sunday everyone.

Halloween Makes Giveaway

I love Halloween, love the feel of going out trick or treating in the cold air!! Hope it is cold and not warm else that won't feel right! I do however admit to getting sick of the doorbell going after 9.00pm and all the sweets have gone!
Another reson for loving Hallowen is, it is my wedding anniversary!! 14 years this year! Hmmm how do we do it! I so think Will working nights for the last seven years, me working days and only really seeing each other on a weekend has helped as we have loads to catch up on, anyway I am drifting off, Halloween makes, which one do you think has gone the best!!!

I am approaching a 100 followers, which has taken me forever!!!and to kind of give me a gee up I am going to have a Giveaway, the prize will be a set of the Halloween ornaments and a couple of surprises, all I ask is for you to blog about the giveaway, leave a comment and follow me if you don't already. The giveaway is open until next Sunday, 16th October and I will announce the winner on Monday 17th October.
Have a happy Downton Abbey Sunday evening, I love it!