Arlo actually has a 'real' bow and arrow set which he uses at his grandparents' rural place (less chance of injuring anyone) but on the weekend he and his sister devised this alternative for using here in the big city. We are lucky enough to have a wild and overgrown bit of our garden, and…

Some more brooches were made- this time from pieces of hand-embroidered linen that were left over after cutting out baby slippers- and I didn't want to throw these remnants away. Some of the handwork is very old, and starting to come away from the linen a bit, which is quite characterful I think. Yellow is…

Thank you for leaving a comment on my last post! I drew two names for a set of cards- and they were Sera and Marilyn.  Here are some pins I've been working on this week- little bird brooches. I made them from flat brass frames that I found on etsy, and lacquered on top some…

I am really happy it's September. I challenged myself to a sugar-free August (I picked something I knew would be hard to relinquish as I am a lifelong chocolate devotee and wanted to see if I was tough enough to go without something I loved. And surprisingly I was- hooray!) So while that was all…

Spotted on our windswept beach walk today: an owl and a buffalo, stationed along the edge of the walking track and watching over us.  Hope you've had a good weekend, dear readers.

My little scissors have been busy again, ever since reading about Mary Delaney and her Paper Garden.  These collages on black card were cut from the pages of an old magazine. They were very enjoyable to make late one evening, and I must admit that they indulge any OCD tendencies whilst providing convenient procrastination from…

I don't really understand why citrus trees come into fruit in winter, but in any case, we are enjoying our little mandarin tree right now. And the lemons, of course. My Dad came to visit and brought some limes from his orchard, so we are doing very well, citrus-wise. We went to the christening service…

There's been a slow burgeoning outside and pale blossoms are starting to bud here and there. To celebrate this exciting new growth, I cracked out the basket of embroidery yarns I was given in Norway and did a bit of free-form embroidery onto pieces of old wool fabric (remnants from coats, I believe.) And then…

I've been reading The Paper Garden, by Molly Peacock, which details the life and art of Mary Delaney, who made intricate botanical collages from coloured paper in the 1770s. The book is beautifully written, and there are quite a few coloured plates of her work, which inspired me to try a bit of collage myself.…

The little one got a chance to bust out her spring blouse (the one I made back here) when we had a bit of sunshine on the weekend. And those beautiful spring flowers were a gift from my sister-in-law (she also gave the kids a bunch for their own room- such a nice idea!) Basically…