Happy New Year!

2016 was quite a year. I'm intrigued to see what 2017 will bring! Happy New Year, Everybody!

All my best wishes,

Katie 

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!

Christmas eve is tomorrow and the excitement is setting in. That's how it was when we were little - with the anticipation of stockings in the morning, a mighty feast, and looking forward to sharing it all with family in the days after. To be honest, not much has changed even though there are new people and new traditions each year.

To me, a lot of it is in the lead up and the days that follow - in the weekends of Christmas craft fairs, the decorations, the music, time spent in the countryside, and celebrating it all with family and friends.

I've enjoyed it all and I am looking forward to everything merry that is still to come.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Katie

CubFest

Earlier in the year I was invited to have a stall at CubFest - TheWildest Promise Party Ever - an event to celebrate the 100^th Birthday of Cubs - and last Friday I went along and joined in the fun.   

While I knew some of what PACCAR Scout Camp had planned I didn't know what to expect so it was really great to see it all come to light. Gazebos around the edge of the field boasted activities and their Christmas Market stalls were strung with coloured lights - I've never seen my table of offerings glow in quite the same way before! I am a sucker for lights at Christmas time so I was in my element! With food, coffee and live music too, I was happy.

I think part of it was because I was a Scout. Almost ten years ago I went to a camp to celebrate the Scout centenary and I can remember wandering around with my friends like it was yesterday. So with a little bit of nostalgia, it was really nice to see everyone’s excitement as they arrived and as the evening went on - Such a great atmosphere to witness and be a part of.

Hope you had a good day!

Katie

Happy Advent!

The count down is underway! I can't quite believe it is December already but I will embrace it with open arms. I am ready for all that it brings - festivities, food and togetherness to name a few.

With Christmas on the horizon, I've been to most of my craft fairs of the season and I've really enjoyed them. Each one was a little bit different with stand outs ranging from mulled cider in Goring to live music at World's End.

I still have a couple of events left but this week I've been concentrating on custom orders. What is nice with some of my greetings cards is that I can adapt colours and certain parts of the design to create a personalised card for someone special. Just like this Cat and Dog card.

Happy Advent! Have a lovely evening.

Katie 

It is Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

With these chilly days and December on the horizon it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! This is one of my favourite Christmas card designs this year and I am happy that it is proving a favourite with other people too. 

I hope you're having a good week!

Katie

Christmas Elves

I suppose this card was inspired by those Christmas films where Father Christmas' workshop is piled high with presents, where there is wrapping paper strewn all around, and where there is a hive of activity as the elves make and wrap the toys.

The red and the green? That's easy. For me these are the colours that will always be synonymous with Christmas. The green spruce tree and Father Christmas' red suit. Holly and Berries. Ivy and Poinsettias. I could go on. I am happy to get on board with silver and gold themes, blues, even the odd purple but I reckon in years to come - five, ten, thirty years - I will always go back to these more traditional colours for decorating at Christmas time.

This little elf with his stack of presents is just one of the Christmas cards that will be on sale at the events I will be attending this November. I will be sharing more of my creations soon but if you'd like to see the full range/ join in the Christmas fun why not pop along to one of the Christmas markets I have booked. :)

Have a good afternoon and a lovely evening!

Katie

Christmas Fairs and Markets

For the last few months, I've been knee deep in Christmas and all that it brings. One night I ended up at the pub with glitter on my face! I've been caught up making and preparing and as a result I haven't shared that many of my greetings cards in recent weeks. In fact I haven't written on this blog about much at all. It is my hope, now that the nights are darker earlier, that I will find some time, and a cosy nook, to write and share some winter thoughts and creations. 

For now, with Christmas well and truly on our minds, I wanted to share a full list of events that I will be attending this November and December. Look out for my handcrafted greetings cards and gifts galore from lots of talented makers at any of the craft fairs or markets below. I am looking forward to each one one and really love the atmosphere at these events - Christmas spirit is usually rife!

Saturday 12^th November

Bourne End Community and Craft Market

10am – 1pm

Bourne End Library, Wakeman Road, Bourne End, SL8 5SX

Sunday 13^th November

Wyevale World’s End Christmas Craft Market

10am - 4.30pm

Aylesbury Road, Wendover, Bucks, HP22 6BD

Wednesday 16^th November

Wyevale World’s End Christmas Craft Market

9am - 4.30pm

Aylesbury Road, Wendover, Bucks, HP22 6BD

Saturday 19^th November

Downley Makers’ Christmas Market

10am - 2pm

Downley Memorial Hall, High Street, Downley, Bucks, HP13 5XJ

Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th November

Goring Craft Fair

10am – 4pm

Goring Village Hall, High Street, Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG8 9AG

Thursday 24^th November

Wyevale World’s End Christmas Craft Market

9am – 8pm

Aylesbury Road, Wendover, Bucks, HP22 6BD

Saturday 26^th November

Hughenden Valley Village Hall Bazaar

Afternoon

Hughenden Valley Village Hall, Coombe Lane, Hughenden Valley, High Wycombe, Bucks, HP14 4NX

Sunday 27^th November

Wyevale World’s End Christmas Craft Market

10am - 4.30pm

Aylesbury Road, Wendover, Bucks, HP22 6BD

Friday 16^th December

CubFest – The Wildest Promise Party Ever

From 6pm

PACCAR Scout Camp Chalfont Heights, Denham Lane, Chalfont St Peter, SL9 0QL

Have a lovely day!

Katie 

Happy Halloween!

Only in October

Only in October does the colour orange suddenly become so important to me. I'd put it up there with some of my favourite colours but in October all the others go out the window. In October, there is nothing more pleasing to me than a cluster, a box or a barn full of beautifully orange pumpkins. 

It has become a tradition for us to visit this local pumpkin barn in October. The big ones are tempting but for the past couple of years I've opted for two small ones. Adorable and very quick to carve for tonight - Halloween!

I hope you have a spook-free night!

Katie 

Everything Autumn

There is nothing quite like Autumn. It is almost as if I forget every year how much I love it and cling onto Summer with everything I've got. I only remember when I witness my first misty morning - when the sun shines out through the haze over the hill of trees that I can see from my kitchen window. 

It is then that I remember the colours, the refreshing chill, the dewy grass and this year I've been embracing it as much as I can. With work and life to get along with I've still tried to take some time, even minutes, to soak up some of what I love about the outside in Autumn. Some days I have made a coffee and gone outside to drink it, armed with a fleece and a thick pair of socks!

Last Saturday I took a chance to enjoy it even more. We bundled ourselves into the car in the morning. At a time when the sky was still a little grey and it was cold enough to question whether three layers was really enough. It was plenty. 

There is nothing quite like Autumn when you are greeted at your destination by boxes of apples in all sorts of brilliant colours and then, as you wander around, the sun slowly emerges and you have to shed a layer. 

 

Remember those days of scouring the ground for conkers? For me they will never be gone and on Saturday I swapped conkers for sweet chestnuts. There was something satisfying about the noise they mad as they clinked together in my hand.

As we walked around we were accompanied by a handful of woodland animals - plenty of squirrels and a few robins. It was only at the end of the morning that I finally managed to capture a half decent picture of this little guy before he flitted away! 

This October is a good one!

Katie 

Denver, Colorado

In June I went on a road trip of Mid West America. We spanned seven states and six or seven state parks and took in so many different kinds of scenery, cultures and stories it is hard to believe. We spent the first day of our trip exploring Denver, Colorado. We toured Lower Downtown on foot, soaking up the sun and everything there was to see. 

Part of the attraction of this part of Denver is the pedestrianised 16th Street Mall. The street is lined with shops and places to eat but they weren't really our focus. Instead we took in lush green leaved trees, planters filled with flowers and cacti, painted pianos that were free to play and chess sets. There was even a herd of buffalo! (The first of our trip although the real thing is even more spectacular.) 

 

Tattered Cover Bookstore. This is a bookstore that I knew about before we'd even been away. I think I'd seen a picture of its sign floating around the internet and had learnt a little more about it as I poured over travel guides for the area. It is a large brick building but, stepping inside, it is lined completely with wood. There is a whole host of shelves bursting with books as well as a wide range of magazines for creatives, scientists, home decorators and any kind of knowledge seeker.

Just down the road from the Tattered Cover Bookstore you reach the Millennium Bridge with its striking white mast. It gives you a little bit of height to look down the road that you've just walked. 

After pausing to take shade from the sun, we made a loop in the city, crossing back over the bridge and making our way along Cherry Creek Bike Path past a view of the Pepsi Center, home of the Denver Nuggets Basketball Team.  

From the relative quiet of the bike path we stumbled across Denver Chalk Festival. A buzzing event with live music, food carts and beautiful chalk drawings on the street. It was a colourful and vibrant surprise. 

After eating lunch at Backstage Coffee, an independent gallery cafe near the Denver Center for Performing Arts, we wandered through the complex and out to stand at the base of 'The Dancers', a permanent installation in the grounds. From here, we looked out to see the mountains, looming in the distance. We continued on to 'I See What You Mean,' aka a giant blue bear peering into the lobby of the city's convention center. (This was the first bear sighting of our holiday too. The real thing wandered along the side of the road in Yellowstone National Park.)

We finished our exploration of Denver where you really should in a city that is called Mile High -  on the steps of The Colorado State Capitol. It is a striking building in the skyline of the city and is adorned with a golden dome. The 13th step is marked as being 'One Mile Above Sea Level.' 

The day was hot with clear blue skies and we wandered back to our hotel with flushed cheeks and cameras full of photos.

The next day we moved to the mountains -  my home away from home. The trip only got better.

Katie