it's going to be a white christmas...

..we've get snow! lots of snow! ~ for the city especially!

...the wee man and my (not so wee) man absolutely love it, to be honest it's hard to tell which one loves it more! the wee man gets over excited and tries to eat his own body weight in snow, while my (not so wee) man suddenly becomes five years old again and charges about like a lunatic kicking up the snow for the wee man to catch... :)

...i, on the other hand, have a love hate relationship with the snow (and cold weather in general!). it is utterly beautiful and there is something very soothing about watching the snow fall, but it is just ice and it is bloody cold! i don't do the cold well... ;)

...as long as it doesn't last for too long i think i may be able to enjoy just a few dog walks in the snow, watching my two handsome boys having a ball... :)

...so from my wee man, my (not so wee) man and me...

...we wish you all the most wonderful and peaceful holiday...

...stay safe and warm, and i shall see you all soon... :)
emma
x

a wee sale...

...i'm having a wee 20% sale in my wee shop! in celebration of my first full year of being on etsy and to say a huge thank you all for your wonderful support, whether it was with words of kindness and encouragement, or if you kindly invited one of my lovely ladies to come and live with you! i appreciate it all so much, it has been an absolute honour and a pleasure ~ thank you!
...i'm full to bursting with ideas for the new year, and so excited about the possibilities that 2010 may hold for me ~ i so can't wait!

...oh, and i want to say another thank you to the lovely Lynne, of 'tea for joy', for featuring my super quick festive wreath on her blog today ~ thank you Lynne... :)

...i shall be back tomorrow with my last post before the holidays, wishing you all a fabulous day!

emma
x

colour your monday happy...

...with a few essentials for the festive week...

...a gorgeous wreath, although it doesn't have to be christmas for one of Katie's gorgeous wreaths! ~ Katie Runnels...

...a pretty garland or two, or three! ~ clumsy bird...

...a good crafty project to work on while spending cosy evenings in ~ one pink plum...

...lots of yummy food ~ seven spoons • tara...

...a wee bit of festive sparkle ~ kristina♥kiessig...

...and maybe a wee dusting of snow for the perfect winter wonderland ~ T Does Wool...

...i think a wee dusting of snow would be a blessing compared to the huge dollops of the stuff a lot of people are getting just now. the UK seems to be getting off quite lightly compared to northern Europe and the US, where the snow is feet deep rather than inches deep... i think if that happened in this country a national disaster would be declared! i shall stop myself there before going on a rant about how we're a bunch of whinging complainers... ;)

...stay safe and stay warm my lovelies... :)
emma
x

super quick festive wreath...

...i've been wanting to make my own festive wreath for a few weeks, but my problem has been deciding which style i wanted ~ wrapped yarn, crocheted, padded fabric, traditional twigs and holly, baubles and yarn balls ~ the possibilities are endless...
...then i saw this sweet wreath on flickr, by the lovely Tamar of Nest Decorating, and it was as though a hundred tiny festive fairy lights started twinkling in my brain... ;)

...it was so quick to make that there wasn't time to take stage by stage pics (actually i was having so much fun making it while watching sunday afternoon tv, that i completely forgot about taking progress pics. but it really was super quick and easy to make that you don't really need them anyway!) so here's how i did it...

...first ~ i used the inside hoop of an old 8 inch embroidery hoop as the base...

...then ~ i padded out the hoop with red felt, two A4-ish pieces cut into one inch strips and simply machine stitched together to create one long strip. i wrapped the hoop with two layers, a wee bit of glue here and there to anchor the first layer and a few small stitches to finish the end...
...next ~ i picked out some pretty festive fabrics in red, white, cream and grey, and cut them into 8 inch long strips of varying widths from an inch to a quarter inch...

...then ~ i started tying the strips onto the padded hoop with double knots, i started with the widest strips first, spacing them evenly around the hoop. doing the same with all the fabric strips i kept all the knots on the outside of the hoop, so that the inside was kept fairly neat and tidy...

...next ~ i had a rummage around in the christmas decoration box and found my favourite wee santa and dangled him from the top of the hoop with a length of 2mm red ribbon. he needed a wee bit of persuasion to face the right way but he got the idea eventually!

...and lastly ~ i took a long length (maybe a metre?) of 2cm wide red ribbon and tied it around the top of the wreath too. i knotted it again about 6 inches above the wreath and made a pretty bow to top it all off...
...and voila, bob's your uncle, one super quick festive wreath!

...and before i go i want to say huge thank you for all your lovely comments about my pot holdering exhibition, and an especially huge thank you for humouring me with the title of that last post... ;)

...wishing you all a fabulous friday!
emma
x

Peter Potter picked a pek of pretty pot holders...

...hold on a moment...
...just let me appreciate the genius of that title, i thought it up all by my bit self!
...okay, so it's not that genius, but i'm quite pleased with it... ;)

...anyhoo, here's a long overdue pic of my pot holders at the Peter Potter Gallery in Haddington...

...i'm really pleased that they have been given such a prominent position, they're hung in the main hall (or room ~ the gallery isn't that big!) and they are one of the first things to grab your attention. i got a wee rush of excitement when i first saw them, and another when i found out that at least one has gone to a new home! apparently they are more of a talking point that anything else, hopefully that's a good thing!? anyway, the exhibition runs until the end of January so you never know a few more might find their forever homes yet... :)

...so after we had warmed ourselves up in the gallery and peeked at all of the other lovely hand crafted goodies we spent a couple of hours wandering around a very soggy foggy Haddington...

...the front of the gallery, which is housed in a former fire station...

...this had us completely baffled...
...that is until we consulted the font of all nature knowledge, aka my father-in-law. apparently it is known as a 'witch's broom', a huge mass of twigs growing from a single point usually caused by a disease. i was completely fascinated with it and wanted to get up close for a few pretty macro shots, but the lack of a ten foot ladder meant that i had to make do with this pic instead!

...and how could i not include a pic of the wee man looking especially cute!?

emma
x

colour your monday happy...

...with 100% beautiful bokeh baby!

...beebo wallace...

...Gekko82...

...-:pranav:-...

...tommo24...

...Kamy Lisy...

...i have another confession ~ i absolutely adore multicoloured bokeh images! do you know, since i started these 'colour your monday happy' posts i've been waiting ever so patiently to dedicate a whole post to them!?

...i especially love ones like these with deep velvety black backgrounds that make the colours really zing. i find them completely mesmerising, almost hypnotic. i really could spend hours looking at them, appreciating their abstract quality, colour and texture. the way you would spend time in a gallery soaking up every detail and subtlety of a fabulous painting or sculpture. don't get me wrong, i'm not going so far as to describe them as masterpieces! i just find them beautiful and inspiring... :)

...also, i think they are most fitting for the festive season as these ones especially could be pretty christmas lights twinkling in the dark... ;)

...remember, if you need more monday inspiration pop over to 'all colours in' with a cuppa and a biccy!

emma
x

weekend inspiration...

...over the last week i've been adding a lot of simple and uncluttered images to my flickr favourites, lots of soothing and calming neutrals with just wee pops of colour here and there...

...1. tiny happy, 2. Avril Joy, 3. Iretelle, 4. MOONSTITCHES mangetsu, 5. *Peanut (Lauren), 6. Camilla Engman, 7. evangelione, 8. lobster and swan, 9. rachel.am...

...i picked out these few because of their warmth, texture and 'cosy home' feel. i love the small snippets of lace and crochet, just seeing them makes me want to start work on a new lacy bedspread. it's so chilly here that i just want to keep piling pretty blankets onto the bed!
...and how about that gorgeous pendant light!? (that i just realised looks like a giant sea urchin!) originally it came from here but they don't seem to do them anymore, although i'm sure with a wee bit of thought and patience it wouldn't be impossible to make one up, or at least something similar?

...wishing you all a calm and cosy weekend :)

emma
x

on my desk today...

...a red poker deck...

...we have lots of these strewn around the house as my man is an amateur card magician ~ i'm not sure he's going to appreciate being called 'amateur', but what i mean is it's his hobby, am i digging myself out of this hole or what!?
...anyway, the point is i thought i should find a use for these as they keep piling up. you see, a deck can only take a couple of weeks of (ab)use before it gets battered and not so good for performing tricks, and most people he knows have already been gifted a few decks and aren't in need of any more. lots go off to recycling, but me being a hoarder and a crafter still sees this is a bit of a waste of something with pretty and festive potential...
...so being inspired by all these beautiful paper garlands on etsy, i got busy this morning...

...obviously a punch would be much quicker and easier, but i don't have one so i had to make do...

...i used the back edge of the plate as a measure to evenly space each wee disc, although i was in no way precise about this!

...if you want the details ~ i think i used around 50 discs, but lost a couple as my sewing machine snagged and ripped them, and i think it turned out about 3m long...
...i'm quite pleased with the result, but i'm not sure if i want to drape it around the tree or hang it across the wall. hmmm, well now i know how i'll be spending my afternoon ;)

emma
x