November 28, 2010 / 1 Comment

The First Day of Advent

Where has the year gone? I cannot believe that as I woke up this morning, we entered into one of my most favorite times of the year; the season of Advent. The 24 day build-up to Christmas! It is time to get out my Christmas Pixie, Eglantine. Alas, we are going to be having some work done at the cottage and I won’t be able to decorate as normal.

I have looked and looked at old-fashioned paper and chocolate Advent calendars, but non were beautifully decorated and were not anything I wanted in my house for the next 24 days. Since most things will have to be packed up for the moment, I wanted something small, maybe even transportable.

In looking at “One Pretty Thing”, I happened upon this:

What a fabulous idea I think this is! This is the perfect Advent calendar for grown-ups, or to mail to a college student or a friend. What a cute idea!

Read the whole post here. Happy First day of Advent!

(All images copyright My Little Mochi)

November 26, 2010 / 0 Comments

The Day After Turkey Day

All the preparing, stressing, family gathering and it is over in a flash, a snap of your fingers. That brings us to “The day after Turkey Day ” and there is nothing better than the glorious leftovers on “The day after Turkey Day”.

After you have stuffed yourself to the gills and you swear you will never eat again, somewhere around midnight you are famished and so you raid the fridge! That first leftover turkey sandwich of the season, is somehow, the best one of all!

(Image found here)

November 25, 2010 / 0 Comments

Turkey Day

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

November 24, 2010 / 0 Comments

A Pot of Pie

I spied these lovely pumpkin pies in a jar over at Inchmark and I think they are a beautiful idea, for a little something different!

They would look charming displayed on a table set upon Johnson Bros. “Friendly Village Autumn” luncheon plates. I also think they would be the perfect breakfast, because, you have to keep your energy up as you slave away over that succulent roasted bird and stuffing!

All I need is a spoon and a little extra whipped cream…

(All images copyright Inchmark)

November 22, 2010 / 0 Comments

Matchboxes

I have been meaning to post about this little piece I saw on Youtube for ages! It is composed of 178 matchboxes, designed by Prague based designer Pavel Fuksa. I think it is pretty neat! You can watch the video below:

November 20, 2010 / 2 Comments

The Electra Gypsy

I have wanted a bike for ages, but, unfortunately there is no space inside the cottage or a safe place outside to keep one. But, if I could have a bike, I think it would be this:

Look at the gorgeous basket, those giant wheels and those lovely painted flowers. This is an Anne of Green Gables bike (just minus the red streamers)! Isn’t it just dreamy!

November 18, 2010 / 0 Comments

Blackbird LetterPress

I adore Blackbird Letterpress. This is a company that I have been paying attention to for a little while now. Their cards are simply beautiful. Maybe, I am so in love with it all, because I did printmaking in College?

I have an appreciation for running things through a press, for pressing patterns into paper and the feel of it in your hands as it comes out the other side. The sensation in your fingertips as they gingerly touch the depressions in the paper. Or, what it feels like to peel back the layers of padding, to see how your print has turned out, after inking it for the first time.

I love paper, I love pressed paper, it gives your chosen item a vintage air and these cards certainly have that.

The yellow grizzly bear looks as if he has crawled out of the pages of your Grandmother’s photo album as a memento she stuck in from their family Summer trip to Yellowstone. There is just such a simplistic beauty to these cards. I don’t know if I would be able to give them away to someone; they would have to be another lover of paper items, like me.

I plan on getting a few of these and framing them to hang around my house, because one’s house should never be without a fox and a grizzly bear adorning the walls!

(All images copyright: Blackbird Letterpress)

November 16, 2010 / 0 Comments

Gather Here

We are just a little over a week away from Thanksgiving. Not a holiday here in England, but we still celebrate it in our little cottage. There is something to this time of year, as we approach Christmas, there is just so much more hustle and bustle and everything takes on a more frantic pace. There also seems to be something in the air lately, everyone seems to just be fed up!

Maybe, it is because evening crawls in sooner and with less hours of daylight we feel pressured to complete more tasks than usual. Maybe, it is simply the pressure the media puts on us, there is not one store I have entered lately that is not stock piling their Christmas displays or has already decorated to the nines. It seems that as we approach Thanksgiving there is more pressure than ever.

Thanksgiving, can be a stressful time for many, you are possibly dealing with family that you would prefer not to see, you are anxious that your turkey will turn it out just so; the new bride cooking for everyone for the very first time. All this pressure, seen and unseen, seems to mount for everyone and comes to a head.

I think, of all the Christmas gifts, I have to buy and what seems like no time to do it in. I think of all the things I have to do at home and only the weekend to complete everything. I feel the pressure, that Thanksgiving seems to be the “hurdle” we have to get through on our way to Christmas, and once Christmas comes we can all sit back and take a breath.

I refuse to look at holidays like that. I want to enjoy them for all that they are, I want to soak up every drop of time I spend with my family. I want to simply take a breath and be open to just being, not be pressured by society to have everything just so and by a certain date, I am willing to just take it as it comes and drink in the moments as they present themselves. Because, I believe that I am where I’m supposed to be right now and I will come to it with not only an open heart but a grateful one!

(Image by Craftily-Ever-After)

November 14, 2010 / 0 Comments

A Book

One of my colleagues in the Art Department is a wonderfully delightful woman. She usually marches into my cupboard in the morning, singing “Hello” to me, like my own personal Ethel Merman.

She was commissioned by a county museum to create a piece about books. She used a vintage book and then began to take it apart. Drilling through it, slicing out interesting text and images, putting it back together in an accordion fold, that when opened creates the most fascinating scenes as you peer through the “tunnel” into the book. One of my favourite bits of text is the one used in the image above, “A constant source of surprise, was the joy of doing it”.

A resourceful artist and one who does not waste, she stacked the circles that were drilled out of the book on top of each other and screwed in a acrylic holder to make a resting spot for the book when it is closed.

It is a truly charming piece of work and is something that I will be photographing and documenting over on In the Art Cupboard this week, so please come over and take a look!

November 12, 2010 / 1 Comment

A Tea Party

On Wednesday afternoon for completing my first 1/2 term at my new school, I was invited to an afternoon tea with the principal. Which, I thought was a very charming British thing to do.

It was lovely, the table was laid with the most gorgeous trays of sandwiches and cakes and scones with oodles of clotted cream and strawberry jam to lavish upon them. There were also the most divine miniature coffee eclairs. After working away in the cupboard all day, all that wonderful sugar on offer was pure happiness!

It was all created by the students in the Home Economics department and they had worked tremendously hard. It was an absolute delight and, a pretty neat way to welcome in your new staff too!

(Image: A Su Blackwell piece)