I have at last framed my bird painting that I finished before Christmas, and I want it to have a little perminant place here as it took me ages to finish. There was a lot of putting down and not working on it, so it feels momentous to have it at last on the wall!!

If you haven’t tried painting by numbers I really recommend it. I did art for GCSEs (and started A-levels, but left before I finished to travel) so I have done plenty of painting in my life, but there is something very relaxing about colouring in!! And even if you don’t think you are artistic, you can do this! I would recommend getting acrylic brushes though as they give a nicer finish.

One of our favourite gifts this year was this beautiful painting by my very talented mum. The birds in the hedgerow are just like the birds popping out of our back hedge by our patio. 

When someone hand makes or paints a gift it really means so much!

Did you make or receive any handmade gifts this Christmas?

Today is International Woman's Day! As I look back on my life, I have been so blessed with the women in my life, from my lovely, patient, kind and creative Mother, my wonderful Grandmothers, kind and artistic Aunties, the most magical Fairy-Godmothers, the bestest of best friends, 5 wonderful Sisters-in-law and the kindest Mother-in-law ... and today I spent the most lovely day with the women from Steve’s family being creative painting pottery, lunch out and a bit of shopping ... it was just what I needed. 

I have never done pottery painting before, and it was so fun ... I can not wait to get my tray back and see how it turns out ... I am totally addicted and think I need to make a whole set!!

Hello, come in! Kettles on ... I am just giving the house a bit of a blitz before the weekend. Can you believe it's at last the end of January, I’m sure there have been about 63 days in January so far!!

Have you managed to start any of your 2025 projects? In recent years I’ve not been big on making New Years resolutions ... with kids still home for the the holidays, the 1st seems like a really bad time to start ... I much prefer a slow relaxed start to the year and instead have a few weeks after the boys go back to school to get myself acquainted with the new year and decide what we are going to achieve together then! This year I really want to focus on finishing off projects that I started and never finished! That includes crafts, decorating and the garden!!

Some of my half done crafts include a 2024 embroidery journal, a painting by numbers of birds, patchwork quilt for our bed, a knitted scarf, and hooking picture of sheep and a few cross stitch samplers.

living 10 miles from the nearest shop I like to keep stocked up in milk, bread and loo roll. We don't have much storage in our little cabin so I keep the loo rolls in a basket in the bathroom ... this has worked well till Timber-wolf came along and decided that loo rolls were a nice snack and started taking them off to destroy them!


so yesterday I decided to make a cover for the basket ... I took my inspiration from the picture I made for the bathroom


I painted some fabric with flowers similar to those in the picture


and then sewed a simple lid with the design in the center!


I am really pleased with how it has turned out and I think Steve likes it too! so I am happy! :)

every year I make some of my christmas presents and this year for a couple of my sisters-in-law I painted some dishes and filled them with chocolates ...


I copied a design I do in blue and sell at craft fairs, only for them I did it in pink and purple ...


they are useful as trinket dishes after the chocolates have been eaten!


I resisted the urge to eat some of the chocolates!!


I wrapped then in clear film that I wrap my Bygone Beach Days prints in so they stayed all packed up


did you make and gifts this year?

back in september I designed this years christmas cards ... it was just going to be one design ... owls on the roof of a log cabin, but the owls just looked too big and it didn't look right so I ended up with two designs :)


a happy owl couple all wrapped up for a cold winter ... yep thats me and Steve!


I printed out extra owl couples so I could cut them out and make them as decopage with sticky pads


... you can just see here that its 3d ... I drew all the feet afterwards ...


... and this is our cosy log cabin ...


also 3d ... and with an extra layer on the front tree too!


I also did some without the padded layers so they could go in the post as a regular letter size.


and sending out christmas cards is the perfect timing to include our new address to everyone so I also made a slip with our new contact details ...

I have always dreamed of an apple green and pale pink kitchen and with moving in to our cabin just a week or so away, my dream is coming true!

I have made the curtains already out of some pretty Clarke and Clarke Tilly material. Between the kitchen-diner and living room is an archway ... to keep warm in winter I am making a curtain ... it will probably be open most of the time, but in the winter we may need it. I wanted something slightly different for that curtain, but its from the same range by Clarke and Clarke so the colours match perfectly :)


I have been selling hand painted china at the craft fairs I have been doing this autumn and thought I would paint myself a butter dish in pinks to match ... I am really pleased how it turned out ... it feels very summery!


here are some other bits I have bought recently ...
owl mug :: Dunelm Mill
pink plate :: Ikea
glass jar :: B&M
large chopping board :: Ikea
green bowl :: Ikea

... as you can see I had a good trip to Ikea last week :) I went there with my mum and sister-in-law, and saw lots of lovely  bits I wanted and so my lovely sister-in-law got me some glass bits for Christmas ... I now have to forget I'm getting them so they will be a nice surprise! haha
oh, this is going to be such a lovely Christmas ... I have never looked forward to Christmas as much :D

Steve, knowing I love owls, had the brain wave of putting owls on the top of the apex of the cabin roof ... so I drew out a template and he cut me out a couple in ply-wood


I primed them and then using photos as a guide, I drew a rough outline ...


I was originally going to just have an owl silhouette up there with maybe the eyes cut out, but I must have been in the mood to paint and I ended up going really detailed.


I loved doing the feathers, but I am not sure how like the photo it looks!


I wasn't very happy with the legs and feet ... the body needed to be longer and maybe have a scalloped tail ...


I figured I wouldn't be able to do 2 the same so I went for one brown and one grey ...


they had quite different faces and I managed to make the body on the grey one look longer


I painted the sides and the backs too ... although the backs would never be seen, but I wanted to do them anyway!


I then put about 3 layers of exterior satin varnish on them, especially around the sides ... there is a lot of weather up there in the Welsh mountains and I don't want any water getting in!


it took 8 hours to dry between each layer so I would do a layer in the morning and in the evening


do you think they need naming?


last weekend Steve put them up ...


I helped by saying 'left a little, right a little' ... I'm not that great with heights!


the grey one is on the front ...


... and the brown one on the back ...


you can see them from quite a way away :) .... I just hope they survive the weather!