A new blog for the New Year...

and here is what it's looking like...

I can hardly believe that I have been blogging here for 3 whole years and had some 26,000 views from around the world, which is something I find quite astonishing!
 
Each week and sometimes more often I have found things to say and share, I have met and mingled with some wonderful people and their inspiring blogs and thoroughly enjoyed being out here sharing bits and pieces and some of the joys and challenges of life, I feel I have made friends around the world and if I met you in the street we would all have lots to say!

I have loved being part of a crafty creative network and of a wider community too, I have had so much encouragement and lovely feedback which has helped me on my journey as a maker, and I have loved sharing what I make, even just taking a photo of my work aids my creativity

but, after much procrastination...which is tricky to say let alone spell...I have taken the leap to create a new blog in my own name...it will make it so much easier to follow other people and make comments and I will be able to be ME!

so I am clearing the decks and starting again...I feel a little sad to be leaving this faithful old blog, which has indeed been a friend, but it will sit here quietly, unobtrusively...whilst a new sister blog gets going

I would be more than delighted to see you all over there ...click the title image at the top or here...and I look forward to sharing some new ideas and thoughts and bits and bobs with you

...and it will take me a wee while to get all my following of your blogs sorted out, but I will be there as soon as I can!

 

love and blessings to you all in 2014

Emmaxx

Christmas Eve...

and now time to relax and enjoy mincepies homemade by daughter mine...mmm! 

 

 almost there with the wrapping...off for a nice hot bath as it's pretty cold, hail and gailforce winds have made for a wild day outdoors, nearly too wild to cut the greenery for the mantlepiece...a job I like to do on Christmas eve afternoon listening to carols from King's College, Cambridge...

 

a quick pic of our two happy donkeys, beautiful Rachel settling in nicely now, it's so good to see Ned with company...tho a little strange as she is so different in colouring to Gwendoline...we all look forward to getting to know her better in the days ahead

and tonight as they pull Santa's sleigh round the village and the reindeer have a rest in their stable...we can all sleep peacefully knowing that tomorrow is a magical day!

I hope that you are all safe and warm tonight and that your Christmas will be all you could wish for...
see you soon
love Emmax

first...the solstice

blown in on a gale with lashing winds, and this morning thunder and lightening, Mother Nature shows us who is boss! we seem small compared to her power! I love the winter solstice...

in winter deep

comes fire to warm 

homes dressed with green

gifts all

from the earth

 

in the darkness

 new life gleams

as we turn once more

 to the light

and the best news this week...is the arrival of Rachel...after a long journey up from south lakes she arrives in style...

mm...Ned not sure about this here new donkey in HIS stable!

isn't she just gorgeous?
 

welcome dear little donkey!

our best Christmas present, a new companion for Ned, whilst we still love Gwendoline in our hearts, rather like the solstice, we welcome the new and the sense of hope Rachel brings.

and there is still Christmas to come, hope your preparations are going well...I really liked this reminder from Cheryl Richardson...and I'm trying to put it into practice...

almost but not quite...

Christmas so just time for a night away

destination Manchester...driving down the majestic M6 through rain and storm force winds, some of the best views in the country as we travel through the Howghylls...at speed!

 

we made it safely to Rochdale station to catch a train, and glide easily into Manchester Victoria, half remembered through the mists of time, an old haunt from when I was at Liverpool Uni...young, free and single! This time we have ventured here for daughter mine to run in an athletics meeting on Sunday so I suggested making it a weekend...and here we are, rather stunned country mice getting used to the rush of the city...


luckily daughter mine had a map from when she came with a weekend with Rangers so she leads the way...I could do it from memory...maybe!

it's late afternoon, dusk is coming on and the lights are bright...

I do so love the bright yellow trams...and the hustle and bustle, somehow it feels exiting, a buzz of movement and things happening all around us

and here we are at The Manchester Craft and Design Centre...a historic building now full of the best in art and craft and design, studios, artists...and cafe, modern but with a sense of the past

just not enough time to take in the wealth and variety of creativity, ceramics, furniture, textiles, art of all kinds, and you meet the makers...brilliant to meet Andrea from &made whose lovely work I've admired for a long time

you can see more aboutalmost but nowt the Craft Centre here

out into the night to find Christmas markets in full swing...

so much to see and buy...but we were flagging by now so walked back to the station to catch the train again...and headed for a meal and a bed at the Youth Hostel at Haworth (yes as in The Bronte Sisters)...we know how to have a good time!

I even managed to watch Strictly and on Sunday, daughter mine ran like the wind in her 60m sprint and hurdles and got 2 PBs (personal bests!) 

Home again feeling like I had a week away not just a night...bliss!

 

 

Knitting AND Stitching....

and so much more...The Knitting and Stitching show at Harrogate 2013 was a joyful experience, all the better for going on a Sunday when it was quiet and you could see everything with ease! so here for you in the comfort of your own home...no travelling required except in your mind... a taste of what we saw...

Mandy Patullo's wonderful thrifty artwork handstitched to perfection... 

 

 

again handstitching but this time with printing, some small and some huge abstracts from the landscape by Dorothy Caldwell..love the texure of her stitching here

Bobby Britnell and Ruth Issett side by side, so different but equally inspiring

how's this for a sketchbook?!

and stall after stall of colour, texture and creativity...and sheer hard work!

a stop for lunch in the opulence of the Grand Theatre, where Husband of Patience sits with his newspaper and a cuppa when he's had enough! and the Man count was quite high this year...

lots to look at and absorb...and lots of tempting things to spend your pennies on!

got some beautiful yarn from this original stall run by a young lady at Lily and The Dub!

one of my favourit parts is seeing all the students work, full of imaginative use of their medium, in a contemporary way which is so fresh

I've always loved the K and S show, but even more now I go with Daughter Mine, who has a shared love of all things textile...and we have a really good family time together! She's just done some wonderful work for her Textiles GCSE mock...and I could easily see her artwork here!

thanks for all your kind comments and donations for Gwendoline, we hope soon to have a new donkey companion for Ned, who in the meantime is getting lots of extra ear tickling and carrot and apple treats...

for those who missed my last blog post, this is Gwendoline and we are raising money for The Donkey Sanctuary in her memory, click here if you would like to make a donation...thank you

have a quiet week...there's plenty of time before it's Christmas...honest!

Emmax