Happy New Year

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Phew, so here we are on the flipside of a wonderful Christmas.  I have eaten my own bodyweight in nibbles, drunk my fair share of Christmas tipples, worn out my Christmas playlist (my favourite?  The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole, thanks for asking!), been surrounded by my lovely family and good friends and generally relaxed and recharged.  

2012 saw quite a big change for me but one that definitely worked out for the best and overall, I was sad to say goodbye.  However, here we are at the start of 2013 and I am welcoming it with open arms!  I'm very excited to show you, over the coming weeks, some things I've been working on but for now, I just wanted to check in and wish you all a very healthy and happy 2013 whatever it has in store for you!  

Jo x

Sunday snippets

Really?  Sunday again already?  One minute, I'm arguing with the alarm clock that it can't possibly be Monday morning again already and then here we are on Sunday night at the start of another week to come!  Madness, I tell you!  Ah well, it's been a lovely seven days and here are some snippets.... 

Crafting supplies for some Christmas goodies I'm working on... 

A trip to a wonderful Christmas barn...

... where I made a new friend!

Sorting and tidying of my writing desk

The best railings ever!  Cats!  Oh my.  

 

The little project my Dad was working on for me is now finished.  Aren't they beautiful?  I'm so pleased with how they turned out! 

 

Have a great week everyone and I'll try not to leave it seven days before I see you all again!  

Jo x

Sunday snippets

Hi all,
I hope you've had a good week?  Mine has been pretty busy but here's a little insight into my world this week...

I can't get enough of this time of year.  Crisp autumn days and the most perfect colours...

 

My first attempt at machine sewing some cushions.  They're not perfect by any means but I'm pretty chuffed!

 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....!

 And speaking of Christmas, I'm preparing some little felt decorations for sewing together later this week... with only six weeks to Christmas now, I'm in full on festive crafting mode! 

 

Have a good week, Jo x

"Perhaps it has been buried for ten years," she said in a whisper. "Perhaps it is the key to the garden!"

She looked at the key quite a long time. She turned it over and over, and thought about it. As I have said before, she was not a child who had been trained to ask permission or consult her elders about things. All she thought about the key was that if it was the key to the closed garden, and she could find out where the door was, she could perhaps open it and see what was inside the walls, and what had happened to the old rose-trees. It was because it had been shut up so long that she wanted to see it. It seemed as if it must be different from other places and that something strange must have happened to it during ten years. Besides that, if she liked it she could go into it every day and shut the door behind her, and she could make up some play of her own and play it quite alone, because nobody would ever know where she was, but would think the door was still locked and the key buried in the earth. The thought of that pleased her very much.

Ever since reading 'The Secret Garden' as a child, I have held a fascination with keys and the possibilities they offer.  A rusty old trunk containing memories, a door to a secret hideaway, the unsurpassed excitement of owning your very own house; a key can offer so much to a dreamer like me!  

 

Now available in my Etsy shop

Jo x