* Friday Treat Time *

Today, as spring seems to have definitely arrived, I wanted to share this beautiful animation (found by Jon, of course!) that is set in the snow, and is about imagination, childhood and growing up into who you are meant to be...

the silence beneath the bark / le silence sous l'écorce from joanna lurie on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Some News & Birthday Gifting *

Sorry I've been a bit quiet recently - this has been due to a rather exciting event - becoming pregnant! Wow!

Needless to say, we are very excited (and a bit nervous!) All going well, baby should arrive early September...

Here baby is, showing mum and dad just how fast they can move their arms and legs (the scan helpfully points out where everything is, in case its a bit tricky to know what's what!):

Beautiful!

As a result, I have been suffering from nausea everyday for the past two months, but as this is settling down now, I've been able to start making things again - hooray! There have been many birthdays across February - here are some little things I have made recently for friends:

Baby Poppet the Owl


Fleur Bear

...and a special Bilbrough birthday card!

I'll hopefully be doing more stuff now - see you soon!

x*x*x

* Friday Treat Time! *

Here's a story to warm you on this cold, cold Friday - a little Robin who has found shelter from the snow in a Co-op shop in Aberdeen! He's so content that he sings by the tills and nibbles on crossiants and blueberries laid out for him by the staff. Click on the image below to read the story and watch a little video of his antics:


Happy Friday!

x*x*x

* Meet Little Red *

Apologies for being a bit quiet recently - after my bout of making hair corsages I have been dreaming of finishing some little books I have been working on - Beatrice the Dancing Bee being one of them! In the meantime, I have been doodling some new characters. Here is Little Red, having been inspired by the changing of the seasons and my love for foxes - they get too much bad press in my opinion!






It might be a small book for small ones - not many words, just pictures of Little Red's adventures in the forest and beyond!

x*x*x

* Fun With Hair Corsages *

I wanted to make a pretty thing to wear this New Years Eve, so I dug up some spare fabric I had in my fairy fabric bag, used a pretty lace ribbon and button and got to work!

I cut out a large circle and then a smaller circle of fabric and layered them with the lacey ribbon and held it all together by sewing a white button in the middle.
I then sewed on two strands of lace ribbon to add another layer, and sewed the back of the corsage onto a plain white headband:
I felt SO extra sparkly with my new hair corsage that I made another one the next day (after a lie in!), with circles of different coloured felt, cut into flower shapes!
Kind of getting into the hair corsage thing now, and am planning ones to match my favourite oufits of the week!

x*x*x

* Storytelling 2010 *

This will be my last post about Christmas I promise! I wanted to write and show photos from our annual Christmas Storytelling event - it was our one best yet!

Children's Storytelling
We had sleepy, shy and excited little faces that were lit by our fire and Christmas tree lights at the first part of our storytelling. Some children were already in their PJ's and dressing gowns which made it REALLY snug! Great stories were told, some by the children themselves, evoking that magical feeling you only get at Christmas.

Hobbes' Storytelling:

Hobbes wanted to tell a story about Father Christmas, but no-one could hear him as he got a bit shy and just meowed into a Father Christmas hat.

'Grown Ups' Storytelling:
Mulled wine, spiced cocoa and marshmallows, roaring fire, homemade treats and over twenty of us crammed into our front room, we also had a magical time, with much laughter and brilliant wintery, Christmassy stories! Some were funny, some were thought provoking, some were imaginative and some made us a bit teary...

...and to complete the Christmassy magic, it snowed that night and the next day too!

x*x*x

A Shining New Sewing Machine

As part of my path to learn how to do more crafty things and make my own characters, I'm now the proud owner of a shining red and white sewing machine (courtesy of Mum and Dad this Christmas):

Ta-Da!

I had a tip off from friend Charlotte - these cute mini John Lewis sewing machines are a 'snip' (haha) at £50 and come in all sorts of colours - red was the colour for me.
So today, I threaded my sewing machine (with help from Jon) and using some cute fabric (I also got this Christmas from Ma and Pa) I made a cushion cover...

...yay!

I also wanted to give you a sneak peak at one of Jon's homemade Christmas presents - a special book of illustrations just for me!

The title of the book is: A Little Book of Drawings for My Best Friend

This one is a scene from one of my favourite shows, The Good Life:

And here is a Fox Friend!
There were lots of other illustrations and treasures in the book, including a beautiful necklace and a fabric badge from Spitalfields Market. Needless to say - I was very happy :)

x*x*x

* A little bit of homemade Christmas Presents *

I got the chance to make some presents for friends and family this year - the first one I made was a little owl, stuffed with lavender from Provence. His name is Twink...

...and this is his back.Then I made some Button Hearts with buttons collected from charity shops, garden wire and strong glue:

I also framed my Bunny picture:

Of course, I did have some help - Hobbes was keen to lend a paw...

...and waited patiently for Christmas whilst watching the snow fall.

x*x*x

Where the Wild Things Are - Inspired Animation

Another beautiful film found by husband Jon - this is a short film inspired by and in tribute to 'Where the Wild Things Are'. Jon and I are keen to make something that kinda copies this - its SO good!

Buildings & Vampires from Nico Casavecchia on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

x*x*x

* Christmas Friday Treat Time *

My husband Jon found this beautiful film and I wanted to share it with you! It tells the Christmas Story through the eyes of children. Its funny, beautiful and inspiring. Enjoy!

Happy Christmas - not long to go!

x*x*x