One Year On…

Our first anniversary is looming around the corner: on Sunday we will have been married for one glorious year.

On that basis, I feel a gratuitous series of pictures reminiscing about the ‘big day’ would be appropriate… What do you reckon?

Getting ready…

Meanwhile at the barn…

The ceremony itself…

The reception…

 

And the details…

I know everyone always says so but the day went so very quickly… I’m so delighted that we made a last-minute decision to get the day filmed. We can look back on the choir, the tears and the smiles without having great big gaps in our memories…

All images in these collages are by our esteemed photographer Evelyn Poizat-Wade…

Schoolhouses, spaniels and celebrations

A few days in Devon for my mum’s birthday celebrations

:: with fabulous cake::

:: with stunning rainbows amid cloudy skies ::

:: with productive needles ::

:: with bright florals ::

 

:: with LOTS of wine (for everyone else…)::

Origin…

A lovely morning with a lovely lady at a lovely craft fair in a lovely part of town.

I spied a load of strange, wierd, wonderful and skilled work, but my hotpicks for now would be the following little beauties…

Annette Bugansky

Hanne Rysgaard

Mogwaii 

   

Sarah Nicol

Ken Eardley – a bit down the Orla route but lovely shapes nonetheless…

Ellie Evans 

Pretty pretty pretty….

A day with the Bohemians

They painted in circles…

They lived in squares…

They loved in triangles…

And I visited them in the Sussex sunshine one October day…

Had already been once in the spring but in October, the vegetable garden was awash with (seemingly unpicked – HORRORS) produce and the grounds were bathed in bright autumn light.

This time we were guests on a private tour (thanks, Work!) and the information was staggering. The relationships, anecdotes and tales of intrigue were jaw-dropping and really transformed the museum into a home with lives that were lived.

The bump faired remarkably well on the 2 hour coach journey…

Sneak Preview

On the skills of friends…

  

Who when sent links to pretty things decide to recreate their own in all its embroidered goodness…

We’re going to get this framed and added to the evermore decorated nursery which will be snapped and blogged about shortly. Thanks so much to good friends and beautiful stitches…

Crafty Round Up

As promised, here are a few images, projects and ideas that have been inspiring me/breaking me out in a sweat…

So simple and so effective chunky baby blankets…

Gorgeous tutorial, scrummy colours (for some reason vaguely reminiscent of ice cream but maybe that’s just pregnant munchies seeing pudding in all places…)

 

Do you ever have that moment where you have just read about something or someone and then suddenly everywhere you turn that’s all you can see? I’m having that at the moment with Charley Harper.

It started out as a needlepoint recommendation on Apartment Therapy

Which turned into a ‘wanna make this for my mum’ type manhunt…

 

Then suddenly he’s everywhere I turn…I jaunced myself to the Design Museum on Friday to see Mariscal and Supercontemporary (my love of maps of London knows no bounds) and positively salivated upon seeing this which I fear may have to be added to the list of ‘too good for the children that I know and therefore on my own Christmas list instead’:

  

The Mariscal exhibition, which I did not go specifically to see, was so much fun! There were three animated dioramas which were so silly and fun and silly and giggly and… well… fun! You can view them here. (The video is RUBBISH but you get the idea better than a still image! Hopefully they will upload one with better sound shortly.)

Then I got all excited about needlepoint generally and got some bits and bobs at the local car boot…

Must do something with that doily… inspiration here to plunder

And then I got all excited about mini needlepoint projects in embroidery hoops…

from this gorgeous shop

from this gorgeous shop 

from this gorgeous shop

Oh blimey. It’s probably just as well that I’ve got maternity leave coming up – I’m feeling a crafting flurry kicking in in time for Christmas pressies…

Oh glorious crafty-land…

I am always agog at the inspiration, talents, imaginations and output of all the clever people the world over who create, design and develop their various skills to beautify the world around them… I’ll be posting a crafty round up of little wonders when I’m not running for the train…

In the meantime, I’ve been busy myself but not sure it’s as talented or as evocatively photographed as the rest of crafty land…

:: stitching while I can still reach my sewing machine ::

:: continuing to grace car boot sales and buying rather more than I sell ::

:: baking up a storm for my sister’s British themed leaving party as she prepares to cross the Atlantic ::

And finally, talking of inspiring, talented, clever creative people, I thought I would share with you a fraction of the crafty-output from my mother, to whom I am beholden for my dexterity… She has jumped on her soon-to-be title of Granny (I’m carrying her first grandchild so the excitement is as yet undiluted by the reality of upchuck and never ending babysitting requests / 3am phone calls about colic and mastitis) and refurbished/recovered and generally spruced up the Moses basket that I graced nearly 30 years ago. The rocking base if from Freecycle and with a bit of elbow grease, they are now inseparable!!

As well as taking up her needles in search of all things tiny and soft…

My output is as yet not even close to hers, in skill, volume or the oh so important ‘cute factor’…

Unravelled

That’s it.

I’ve resisted for so long.

I’ve been cautious to avoid situations that would lead to over-exposure.

Then I was taken to Stitch n Bitch.

And I turned a rather billious shade of green.

And then I caught the bug.

 

I got taught how to cast on…

And then I was off…

And there was no stopping me.

And I took the plunge and started to attack the birthday present (from the wonderfully thoughtful godmother) with aplomb.

And I haven’t slept or washed in days… (that bit’s not actually true….)

And all I do now is frequent charity shop wool baskets and get RSI in my right wrist (to match the chronic seemingly unstoppable preggers-related lower back pain) and lust over Ravelry and break my keyboard with the drool.

Making & Baking

 

Drawing and colouring in for the nephew’s 2nd birthday.

PS It’s a Jumping Rope. Not a Skipping Rope. So sue me.

Lemon Fluff Cake with yoghurt and frozen berries.

Blueberry and cherry clafoutis to celebrate a good friend beginning a new career as a Secondary Physics Teacher.

Using up some old silk flowers to create a headpiece for a summer garden wedding (pics of the event itself to come – incredible detail in a gorgeous setting…). Can’t work out if I look achingly cool or a bit ridiculous. Could really go either way…

I also fear that I’m getting a pregnancy wattle, if this image is anything to go by… Perhaps the pizza in the oven for dinner is not the best idea…