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Sweden, jag älskar dig!

Every year my partner asks me where I would like to go on holiday. For several years now, I have suggested a visit to Sweden (or anywhere in Scandinavia really) fascinated as I am by the glimpses of beautiful Swedish countryside I’ve seen on television and that certain Swedish sense of style and design. Also, being past the first flush of youth and in the midst of flushes of an entirely different…

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crowing, not crowing

So, you may have noticed on Instagram that a little while ago I made a crow, from a pattern by the wonderful Ann Wood. There he is, pictured above. He was made as a present for my sis in Australia and he made it all the way there in the mail, safe and sound – eventually! She christened him Cawdor, which I think is a brilliant name (and typical of the way my sister’s lovely brain works). I’d…

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(not) repeating myself

Its been a while so I thought it was about time I did another post to share my latest creations – bulb boys and black cats. This probably goes to show, in case you need any convincing, how my work varies considerably from one creation to the next. And yet, as Ryan O’Neal memorably says to Barbra Streisand in the movie What’s Up Doc: “I am not repeating myself, I am not repeating myself… Oh God,…

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spring in the air?

spring in the air?

Is spring in the air? Well, no. It’s blimmin’ January. We still have at least another couple of months of winter to go. As I am typing this the rain is lashing against the windows and at gone 8 o’clock in the morning it is still absolutely pitch dark. But yesterday, as I headed down the garden mid-morning to scatter a treat for the squirrels and magpies (stale nuts found during my kitchen…

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behind the scenes

Well, my Christmas shop update has happened! As I write this there are just two items (one of which is Agatha the Chicken Lady, pictured below) remaining in my shop. HUGE and heartfelt thanks to everyone who has looked and liked and browsed and bought. I am amazed that, especially in these times of price increases and tightened belts, people are still willing to buy what I make. And apologies to…

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in the press...

in the press…

As you may have noticed if you follow either my blog, or my Instagram or Facebook profiles, I am not normally one to flaunt myself in front of the camera or appear in the press. In fact, I recently wrote a whole blog post about how difficult I find it to do just that, even when it is absolutely required of me. But as with so many things in life, pushing yourself outside of your well-worn comfort…

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late starter

Oh my goodness, I have just realised that I am a late starter and that the run-up to Christmas has seemingly taken me by surprise this year! Having been bimbling through the summer not making very much, just dipping in whenever the fancy took me, enjoying the garden and the hot weather, having weekends away and seeing my lad at home instead of working, I have not put in the legwork required to…

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the tale of a princess pussycat

the tale of a princess pussycat

A few months ago, I gave a discarded prototype doll (that had languished unfinished for several years) to the little girl who lives next door. My six-year-old neighbour and I have had quite a few chats over the garden wall during the summer months. She had a friend come to stay for a while and she and her eight-year-old bestie had found in me a willing audience for their garden games and sweet…

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the pain of a portrait

the pain of a portrait

A few years ago I wrote this post, about struggling to take a selfie for some event or other that required one to be submitted. On that occasion I propped the camera on a pile of books and set the self timer. I hated doing it, and hated the results. The lighting was bad (I sat myself in front of a window, perhaps subconsciously trying to conceal my face in the shadows) and I had no idea what pose…

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vintage fabric destash sale!

vintage fabric destash sale!

Just a quick heads-up that my vintage fabric destash sale, as mentioned in my previous post, has now commenced over on ebay!  I’ve started by listing vintage bedding and curtains mainly, as most of these are the biggest fabric pieces I own and therefore take up the most space – and making space is what this is all about. Well, that and raising funds towards my own garden studio, which I am…

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ups and downs

So it’s been quite a while since I wrote a post for this blog, hasn’t it? Time was I would blog daily, full of inspiration and the joys of fabrics, making, and life generally. (Well, usually!) But time has flown by and this year so, it seems, has much of my inspiration and joy. I started the year full of good intentions – to make more dolls and bears, to maybe open a webshop of my own, to develop…

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the halloween collection

When I was a child, growing up in England, halloween wasn’t really a thing. We just didn’t celebrate it. Occasionally, I used to catch a glimpse on television of what halloween was like in America: houses decorated with cobwebs and pumpkins. Suburban streets thronged with children in fancy dress, trick or treating. Parties. Adults in witches hats dishing out sweets willy-nilly. The nearest…

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give me work to last me all of my life...

give me work to last me all of my life…

I’ve been busy for the past few weeks working on more dolls in hand painted fabrics by Sarah Campbell, with whom I collaborated on last summer’s Painted Treasures dolls which were exhibited and sold at Anthropologie. I’ve just finished the above batch and sent them off to Sarah for her to sell on her website. They seem to be proving quite popular – even more so than last year’s dolls for Sarah. I…

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teddy togs time

It’s teddy togs time! I’ve taken up a self-imposed challenge to up my game with regard to my creations’ clothing. I like this time of year. Some people clean, others book holidays and dream of summer, but for me spring is when I get creative. (Apart from last year, obviously.) The longer days and brighter weather seem to bring my muse out of hibernation to sniff the springtime air and ask “what’s…

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a revelation

There are many things that people have missed whilst the shops have been closed due to the Covid lockdowns in England. I am one of the lucky ones, in that we have good local shops that have kept us well supplied with food and drink and all the other necessities of life without any need for unnecessary travel or panic buying. My life is home-based and I’m not that sociable anyway – plus I’ve had…

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winner by a nose

winner by a nose

When I’ve been working on something for a little while and then, all of a sudden, it’s finished, it can be difficult to shift immediately to making something else. My brain doesn’t seem to have an “off” switch that I can just flip and then move on to the next make. I keep picking up the recently finished creation, putting it in different places. Wondering whether to add some other little detail.…

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stupid and useless

When I was quite a small child I had no notion of the concept of feeling stupid and useless. In fact, I remember that I once told my Dad that I was going to learn everything. The statement may sound bombastic, but it didn’t come from arrogance. It came from a feeling that I was interested in everything, and nothing was beyond my grasp. I had no conception of things being too difficult, or my not…