New Year's Eve...

already Mother Nature is moving into spring mode...

and I am looking forward to a fresh start too...a spring clean of my head and my thinking...even if spring is a way off...

I've had a little freshening up here to start me off...hope you like the new look!

I don't make resolutions these days...just make wishes and have thoughts...grand designs and dreams...I do believe we are what we think and in the law of attraction...

So I think I'd like to enjoy more sewing and making...to run lots more workshops...to get back into some proper artwork...to spend time drawing and working in a sketchbook...more playing which will feed my creativity...


I'd like to...
to learn to cook more interesting meals
to have a slightly tidier cleaner house (?!)
to have lots more fun times with my family and friends...

and I'd like to see...peace around the world and greater fairness and opportunity...openness and understanding and sharing...so let's start here...my wish is for all...a new and better way of being and living in 2013...xx

It's a wrap...

Merry Christmas...a most peaceful and properous New Year to you all xxx

 

thank you for all your company here at Emmie and Emma HQ....look forward to seeing you in 2013...and to lots more textile loveliness and making and stitching and sharing!

Winter Soltice...

the shortest day...the longest night...and then the light begins to return...

and a special date...21.12.12... 

I have been out to give thanks and to bless the ash tree in our garden which is so beautiful all year round and gives us much needed shade in the summer...perhaps you have a tree or tree near you which would appreciate some love!

if you are interested in helping to bring peace to earth...in helping to create change...there is worldwide meditation happening this week, starting today 11.30-12.30 UK time...look here to join in...wherever you are in the world!  

Meditation? what's that? well...I just sit quietly (not a bad thing at this time of year!) and allow my thoughts to come and go...after a while they will quieten down...you can light a candle if you like, that always feel nice...I try to focus on my breathing...and let go...just sit in peace...

Winter Light

 Living light
Peeping through the crack of history
What new life seed
Do you bring forth?
No mere repeat of the past
Yet a variation on that form
Giving facility, possibility,
Redesigning an aspect
of love.


Kaaren Whitney

Winter Solstice 2002 

light and love to Mother Earth and to you all 

Emmaxx

a second Christmas thought...

very cold and blustery today, husband of patience is not at work on  a Wednesday this year so he's out there in the stormy weather...happy as Larry...wrapped up and tidying and sorting his world...we bought marker pegs today for him to do some path laying...he is easily pleased!

I love to see him outside enjoying all that he does...fencing, making sheds, moving things, digging... he and our daughter harvested willow at the weekend...it is all very real and grounding, an antidote to work and school.

So I am indoors trying to keep warm...no making today, studio work is on hold and I am indulging simple homely pleasures of sorting and tidying our possessions...and then we will do some more decorating...maybe or maybe not. This is a no pressure Christmas...

Christmas thoughts...

with less than a week to go... well, I tell myself that's plenty of time...so I am taking it one day at a time and one thing on my 'list' at a time...



thanks to daughter mine taking it into her head to go a-hoovering and a-moving of 'stuff' and husband of patience for a-digging up and a-potting up ...we have a lovely decorated living Christmas tree to enjoy as we go past on the landing upstairs...sounds a bit odd but we keep it cool out there (our house is fairly unheated!) and our living rooom is upstairs too, and when the stove is going in there it would be too hot for the tree...

so we put on the Christmas music and spent a pleasurable time on Sunday evening with the boxes of decorations collected over the years...some made by daughter when she was little, some by me, some given by family or friends...some from my childhood long ago...Christmas is memories...each year we make new ones...and the simple ones are the best!

hope you too are enjoying the last few days before Christmas...

there are times when only cake will do...

...especially if it involves chocolate too!

daughter mine had 2 cakes...one for her party and one for her birthday..rather like the Queen...only DM makes her own! Gone are the days of elaborate Barbie castle cakes made by Mum...with ice cream cornets for towers...actually it's quite a relief she makes her own as I am sure my cake baking is no where near up to her standard...tho of course I taught her all she knows...no, maybe not!

cake one had simple fondant icing made sophisticated with chocolate flicks...

and chocolate ganache for the middle...I can hardly say it let alone tell you how to make it!

cake two was a New York baked cheesecake with amazing delicate chocolate icing...mmm!

I want to celebrate my blog too...thanks to you all for 'bearing with' the lack of pics... and to all at Blogger...I had every faith and you came up trumps for me! It is so nice to be in technicolour again! If I knew where you lived I'd bake you a cake...or better still get DM to do it!

So it is now a verrry short time indeeed to Christmas...and where am I?  I ask myself...well of course the house is now imaculate, all presents bought, wrapped and posted too... cards made, decorations hung, mince pies lined up in the freezer....all that's left is to put a ribbon in my hair...in my dreams! 

Never mind, I like a challenge...so I will just muddle through as always... lower my standards and aim for happy times as we are very blessed and fortunate in where and how we live, and our house is full of love and creativity, as long as we are together and fit and well that is the best Christmas present I could wish for...

still a bit of hoovering and a tidy up wouldn't hurt...see you later! have a great weekend xx

life is full of choices

and it isn't always easy to see which way to go....

been such a busy couple of weeks...craftyness all round...oh and daughter mine's birthday and then the C-word...apparently not far off now so I really must do something about it...

it's funny how each year is different, this time last year I was in a frenzy of handmade Christmas making with knitting and sewing and daughter making chutneys and husband creating willow baskets...it is all much quieter this year...think I have been so full on with my now 'work' of making that my energy has gone into that and nothing else...still, all in a good cause...it's been an exiting and challenging year!

mm still not able to upload photos so I am deliberating some choices...

a) start a new blog...it's an opportunity to change what I want to (but might confuse my loyal readers and I would not wish to do that...plus all my business cards give this address!)
b) wait patiently and hope Blogger will sort it out
c) cease blogging and just 'do' facebook...but I would miss the space to post as much as I want...

mmm what do you think??

hope you are having a lovely time getting ready for whatever Christmas means to you...and NO STRESSING!! let go of the voice in your head and just enjoy the moment.... (note to self that is!)

celebrate the small things...

are you having fun? if not... get someplace quick where you are!
xx

10,000 women can't be wrong!

What a joyful Women Fest with textile art and making and stitching and knitting and yarns and fabrics and threads and books and inspiration...it was Harrogate...November...2012 so it must be the Knitting and Stitching Show...and it was amazing!

Had a wonderful time came home with tired feet and brain and and with a lighter purse, but rich in visual experience and inspiration.

Sadly this post is  without photos until I sort out photo storage isssue...apparently I am up to the limit on my storage space of 1GB

which I don't fully understand cos' in the blurb on Picassa it says:

PicasaWeb Albums offers 1 GB of free storage for photos and videos. However, files under certain size limits don't count towards this free storage limit. This applies to uploads for other Google products that store photos and videos in PicasaWeb Albums, including Blogger and Google Maps. 

which seems to imply blogging has no limit??

answers on a postcard please...

is this the end of my blogging career?? I trust not as I love blogging!!

I am confused and have gone for a lie down while the Universe sorts this out for me....

bear with...

Hope you have a great weekend...oo it's first chocolate of December today from the advent calendar..all is not lost!

love 
Confused of Cumbria  xx

it's that time again...

when you suddenly realise that that Christmas thing which you thought was safely 6 months away if you thought about it at all, and yes, if it was 6 months to go you would have had plenty of time for the 400 seasonal and present-y projects in your mind... and of course it would all look just like it does in Country Living or whatever magazine takes your fancy and your house would be immaculate, clean, tidy and not a thing out of place... and beautifully and tastefully decorated  and your family would carol joyfully around the piano...but that actually it is now a mere 5 weeks away and there is daughter mine's birthday so conveniently just before (who made that happen!!)...and now all the lovely things you'd like to do sort of drift through your fingers like sand and your mind glazes over...and then...you wake up and it's Januay 5th and it's all over!

was it a dream, was it reality? 
who cares?

I LOVE Christmastime and all that goes with it and it fills me with love for all things creative...and if I just let go of all the impossible dreaming...it is a most pleasant time spent with my loved ones.

so I thought I'd share a little of our preparations and how we do things here...

take a bowl of boozy fruit well soaked...Christmas is all smells isn't it and this is one of the first! a-making and a-baking...



add my Granny's scales for the ritual weighing of ingredients...



and the essential ingredient...daughter mine...zest that orange...mmm smell that zingy aroma...

 

2 hours in the cake baker in the Aga..and there we have it...mmm such a gorgeous smell...and ta da! I don't want to boast...but WE HAVE MADE THE CHRISTMAS CAKE!! Many a year we have made it ooh about a week or even less before and iced it on Christmas or Boxing Day...so wow! here we are...let's hope we haven't peaked too early...

what's next?? who knows...but in fact the next big item on the horizon is....drum roll...The Knitting and Stitching Show in Harrogate...hands up who's going? might see you there...

it's Friday night and i'm loving....

that although it's ages since I did a Friday night loving post...it's a great way to remember that there's so much I have to love and to be grateful for in my life...

that it's been a strange week as a dear aunt, my Mum's sister, died last week and we all met for her funeral on Monday...this involved a trip to my brother's near Penrith and he drove us over to the north east..to Whitley Bay and to a coast full of memory...then to Morpeth for a lovely service ...and a lunch with all her friends and relatives...a room full of love! It was so funny being with all my cousins again...and realising how time has past since we last all met..and how grown up all their children are...some old enough to have their own. Suddenly, obviously... we are not the 'young ones' any more!

that my aunt was a delight to know...she was such a creative person always baking and making...her full to the brim sewing room and delicious smells from her Aga were testimony...and she always gave us interesting and useful presents(!)...and was a demon at quizes and games...she was always up for some fun... 

that I have so many happy childhood memories...of big family parties, of fun and games...of those family members 'gone before' but still loved and a part of us all...and now we are all scattered around the globe...but still the thread which joins us is strong and to be treasured

that my brother and I shared some precious time as we drove and found a new and better relationship and understanding

that I had a big loving family with my parents,sister and 2 brothers,  many cousins and aunts and uncles...and now my own precious family...and many dear friends...so many people to love and be loved by and with whom to share this life and journey...

that although this isn't my usual kind of post...I hope you will  understand that sometimes a blog offers the opportunity for a deeper kind of communication and sharing...as we all share the same things in life really, just at different levels and in different circumstances

that this post is for my Aunty June and my Mum Aileen...with love and thanks for your inspiration and showing me a way to be creative and to love baking and cooking and making and sewing... and the importance of family...

love

such a small word for such a big thing!

life is soo simple...

when you put into place a cunning plan to holiday in Lincolnshire with beloved Grandparents up from London...and no one has to drive too far and no-one's in charge or has to clean or plan meals...we all stay in a pleasant, warm, clean, well-equipped house in the autumn Lincolnshire countryside...we go birdwatching at the beautiful coast, walking in the woods and shopping in the attractive medieval town of Lincoln...and snuggle up every evening to play games, read and watch tv ...a lovely way to spend half term...just missing our Swiss cousins as their halfterm was last week...

I will say no more...here's a little taste...

 

 

 

mm...vintage in a charity shop...a whole roomful...isn't this a cracker? and there was a delightful little chair for a tenner...sadly no room in the car unless we leave someone behind...

and there has to be a tea shop somewhere...you should have seen the homemade cakes...and we found the very lovely CallyCo shop with a very nice lady serving us...so much temptation, fabrics, ribbons, kits, threads, buttons...all manner of deliciousness! Well it will soon be Christmas and there's no harm in getting a few little goodies for my present cupboard...not for me you understand...

hope you had a good half term too...

old friends and upcycling...

what to do when your trusty sewing machine isn't very well, for the first time in 20 years and you have  to take it to the machine doctor...

and then a 'Making in The Studio' workshop is happening and we are a machine down as someone's machine has come without a foot...

it's time to call on Singer and Jones...sounds like a double act or a firm of solicitors...but no, they are my old friends...

this is Mrs Singer...such a wonderful machine...smooth and well-oiled...daughter mine loves the smell of her!! 

 
and here is Miss Jones...a hand worked beauty with a lovely action and a tiny spindle-like spool hidden in her depths...both are gilded ladies fit for a fancy drawing room or front parlour...

sewing using a hand machine is soo soothing...clink and chink as the handle goes round and the needle smoothly moves up and down...

Victoria arrived equipped for anything...and brought a friend...a lovely Mollie Makes doll which she had made...and a fab pincushion...

Sandra did a show and tell ...a beautiful crocheted rug she had made and  gave me a gorgeous gift of a crocheted bowl, to which I added a lovely button and filled with threads...isn't it a gem?

I do soo love it when people bring things they have made to show...or send photos of items finished after they they go home...

Sandra's busy here sewing on to the front the pretty leaves which she had embroidered with beadwork...

  
Helen came with her cute little basket of goodies...

Sandie got to use Mrs Singer and enjoyed herself no end...and did hand sewing and then got on to making a corsage...looking good! She had made her pretty beaded bracelet by the way...so many talented makers here today!

and after a day of hard work and fun and concentration and sewing and cutting...and tea and cake...4 beautiful bags appeared...Sandie's has a bit to go to be finished as she made hers slightly differently but here is Helen's with pretty suffolk puff decorations...

and a later photo...thanks Helen...love the covered button...

and Sandra's gorgeous soft green bag with beautiful embroidered beaded leaves...

and Victoria's messenger bag...with fab flower in just the right fabrics after much debate in the studio...

Ladies I salute you! You have all made gorgeous handmade handbags...hard to tell that when you arrived these beauties were all old wool jumpers!

I soo love doing workshops and meeting wonderful creative folk who take a making idea and run with it! You are all an inspiration!