Fresh and New

 A fresh new year, and a fresh new start....i love the sense of new beginnings that this time brings.... and the tidying away of the xmas decorations and arranging of new things that i received from my dearies is always a new year pleasure......the blossom in the sweet new greengate jug above is from a tree in our front garden that blooms almost all year round...

                          ....some new sewing pretties came my way and will be put to good use ......

 

 .....and some delightful new pip china ......there is a jolly little robin in the garden today too, just like this one...i love the vivid colours and the textures of this design, and the stripes and the clever mix of new and vintage style...

 ........soon there will be more baking.... once the recent feasting has been recovered from.... and this sweet book will be inspiring me.......

 ..........i've been working hard since yesterday when Mr P went back to work and so did i.....my studio has been de-christmassed and some new bulbs have been brought in (yet to open, but almost there).....

 ....the light changes all the time, from a bright sunny spell first thing to grey and silvery and then to deep dark cloud......

 ....i have lots of illustrations to do, and my new book projects to make and write about, and my new stripy crochet blanket is growing amazingly fast, as many of you predicted, i love doing the stripes too :-))....will take a picture of it very soon.....

......wishing you all a happy first week of January...thanks so much for dropping in to see me and for everyone who follows and comments a big ThAnK YoU.....keep cosy and have a wonderful week....i'll be back soon xxxxxxxx

A is for Alphabet

 When I first fell in love with antique samplers and began to study them closely, and then to stitch my own samplers, I enjoyed exploring all the different stitched alphabets that I discovered. I also took the letters and made them bigger for more modern cross stitch designs, like the children's cushion shown here.

                                                       ABC cushion for Sew magazine

This sampler is in September's Cross Stitcher magazine, fresh new shades, inspired by lovely old samplers with their rows of alphabets and numbers,  swirly borders, checks and decorative motifs. This one has apples and pears to reflect the season, and a little dream cottage surrounded by apple trees....perhaps I'll live in one like this one day....

 ...a few alphabet things in my studio...the tiny sampler baby's cushion, some of my favourite alphabet rubber stamps, lovely little notebook decorated with letters, and a beautiful antique red and white sampler from France which I was lucky enough to find at a vintage textile market....

 .........children's blocks are often played with here again now that we have grandbabies nearby...they love these bright decorative ones......... and so do I....

.....This little sampler was designed for a child to learn to cross stitch, or it could be stitched for a child as a birthday present....it is featured in the bookzine Irresistable Gifts to Cross Stitch, recently published and available now.......

Thank you to everyone who liked my blue things in the last post, and as so many of you kindly enquired about my new blue china I thought I should mention that it is from the Fay range by Greengate...I have more pieces already written down on my Christmas list too....

Before I go I must also mention that Stephanie at the lovely blog Millefeuilles is having a wonderful giveaway, open until September 11, so if you haven't already entered it do pop over there and do so now!!

Wishing you all a wonderful week of autumn sunshine, bright flowers and crafty treats...back soon xxxxx

Rosy Days

 It's that rosy time of year again here...and in many other gardens too, I know....each day there are more and more sweet scented blooms opening, and rose petal confetti strews the grass..

 The top picture shows the rose which climbs over the trellis at the side of the terrace, deliciously scented and lovely to sit near..... the picture above shows one of my favourites, it's very sweet and good for picking as the flowers last a few days and the petals don't immediately fall off, they just gradually subside....

                                      I put these in an old sky blue enamel kitchen utensil holder

 One of the deep cerise multi petalled roses next to Auntie Winnie's cups...not our Auntie Winnie, as we didn't have one, but a couple of friends were clearing out their Auntie Winnie's house and asked if we'd like a lot of  old unwanted china (yes please!!) and we received these cups and saucers (a part set of five) plus lots of other interesting things..so their Auntie Winnie is  often remembered here...

 Gathering roses for Daisy's party - Sarah put them in jam jars with ribbon round the top, so simple and pretty...I will have some photos soon but haven't had time to sort through them yet...

Daisy had a lovely birthday and on her behalf I'd like to thank everyone for their kind birthday wishes ..(she has been very busy eating cake, wheeling her doll's pram and playing with her new cooker)....here is a stylish picture for her wall made specially by Rosie...now Auntie Rosie, of course....It was a lovely treat for us to have Rosie home for a few days over the weekend...

Thank you so much for dropping by to my bit of blogland, and for all the lovely comments. I hope you are having a rosy week, with blue skies, sunshine and time to enjoy the roses...Back soon xxxxx