My creative journey

I have been making more of an effort to share on social media but with that, the blog has fallen away. I am going to try and find some sort of middle ground so I thought I would start with things I have been talking about elsewhere on social media lately. To start with we have my new favourite book (albeit that it is for children). Mary and Frankenstein - Both the story and the illustrations and enthralling    And this is another gorgeous children's book that I got for the illustrations, though more specifically the colour palette. I think the pop of neon with neutral colours is something I want to experiment with.   what is your favorite illustrated children's book? Finally - my product of choice at the moment is Turner gouache though I am going to treat myself to some of these Shin Han hybrid paints this month to try them out I have set up an Amazon store with some of my favorites so it is easy for you to find everything I love in one place.   h...

I don't know about you, but when I am busy at work my creativity tends to dry up and that has been my reality for the last few months. I have also been busy trying to finish stitching  Christmas gifts.  Because of the deadline, I didn't want to start any new stitching projects until they were finished, and as they took far longer than I expected  I had a few projects  (that I was itching to start) that were just collecting dust. Thankfully I have been able to start them now and they include kits from Wildfloss and Innocent Bones. This is not my picture but is the sample from the new embroidery kit I am working on from Wildfloss. Embroidery Kit, 8" Abstract design on natural canvas £36.00 I have completed every Wildfloss kit so far and I love them. I have been embroidering for about 18 months now but would still consider myself a beginner so I find these kits perfect. They offer the right balance of pattern/guidance to creative freedom. The cross stitch pattern I am w...

Christmas traditions are a big thing in my house.  There are certain things as a family we do every year, from watching specific movies to visiting my nan every Christmas morning to open presents (which I have been doing for over 30 years). One tradition that was started just after my daughter was born (11 years ago now !!!) is that each year we all choose a new Christmas tree decoration that gets added to the tree. I am sure you can, therefore, imagine how uncoordinated our tree is, but just recalling when, where and why we purchased each ornament brings us so much joy. We have purchased our ornaments from a variety of places over the years, including Etsy, and seeing as you know this is my favourite place to find unique gifts I thought I would share some that have piqued my interest this year. Custom pet portrait £8.50 from BethanyWestall Badger Christmas Tree Decorations £14.95 (for 4) from  Silverpasta Red Fused Glass Christmas Tre...