An obsession....

...to go with all my other obsessions!

This was about a third of my rose ring stash. I do love a rose ring, can you tell?!!!!!!!

As for yesterday's post? Yes, you were right ladies....they were indeed from Wilkinsons! Ranging from 79p - £4. They have certainly made my little kitchen space more cheery. Nigella, I do love your utensils but I don't love your prices, so Wilkinsons, for a cheap update, you definitely have my vote!

xxx

Pastel Finds.....

I am in love! With some cheap plastic bowls and utensils. They have brightened up my day and put a HUGE smile on my face. The fact that they were cheap as chips made the smile that much sweeter!

My most fave trio of colours

And gorgeous lemony soap to make me feel that spring is not far off!

xxx

Colour

The day is dark, wet and completely miserable. Is there anywhere where it is not depressing?

So, today I think about COLOUR.

I love bright colours, as many might have guessed! I also have a huge love of pastels. I have my favourites, you know, the ones that instantly draw you to them like a strong magnet in a shop. 

I love PINK, palest, soft, blush, shell, peachy, sheer, delicate. 

I love BLUE, duck egg, palest, chalk, sea.

I love GREEN, olive, minty, spring.

I love TURQUOISE, vibrant, pale

Some colours I have always loved from childhood....some have grown on me over the years.....but I have always struggled with two colours.....ORANGE and LILAC. Orange being the worst (or so I thought). I don't know if it is because it is a colour that does nothing for me, or that I always see it in its harshest form...that strong orangy colour that gives you a headache if you stare at it too long. I guess that's why I am no big fan of Halloween. Strong orange and black...yuk, so in October, I keep my head down! 

Lilac, follows very closely though. I can take purple (how could I not love the purple of the lavender fields behind my house), and like it teamed with olive, but lilac I find very, very cool and hard to look at. It puts me on edge. It's almost like it is an imposter. Trying to be this pretty colour, yet instead, to me it is sickly and cold. 

Now, I took a long hard look a few months ago at my makes, my buys, my house etc and realised one thing. It lacked something. I do love bright colours together, but there was a colour missing.......Yellow. Now, I don't have a problem with yellow (except acid yellow, but i'm guessing most people would have a problem with that!!!!) but it seemed not to feature much in my house. I guessed that maybe subconsciously, as it was close to orange on the colour scale, I had steered away from it. 

So, I made the decision to add more yellow to my house and see if it was the 'thing' that was lacking. Of course it had to be the right kind of yellow, pale and creamy, but I thought it might lead to a bolder yellow love.

A nice thrifty find of some Woods Ware 'Jasmine' china helped breath life into things. Do you remember? 

It now adorns my dresser and fits in well with the other bits. I also have a couple of other bits that are deeper in colour. I am astounding myself!!!! Yesterday I found this beauty in a charity shop and fell in love. Just right to balance the colour in my house. 

I am loving it more and more each time I glimpse it.......at 50p.....a bargain I thought! And it is a deeper yellow, a tinge of the orange creeping its way in!

But do you know what? I do love retro, which is a little strange, as a lot of retro stuff is orange...but I have always steered towards the stuff , well, that isn't orange! But....you know what? I think.....my mind might be changing. Just a little bit though! I don't think I will ever be able to take strong orange in any way, shape or form, but, I did buy some PALE orange flowery fabric (with the intense encouragement of my sister-in-law), and I keep staring at it, and beginning to like it that little bit more. So, maybe, the palest of orange, and the deepest of yellow I will be able to take in small doses, it might just start creeping into the house a bit more!

As for lilac...no way hosay...but I guess.....never say never! If you think that you can change my mind and plead your case for lilac then feel free!

So, tell me.....your favourite colour?....your least favourite? I would love to know!

Happy grey, dull Thursday!

xxx

The year in view...

I was thinking about this past year. It has been a very different one to the one I think I expected. We have been needed a lot by others, and whilst completely happy to be there, it has been tiring. I think just because, our bears have needed us a lot too...and rightly so.........but sometimes it's draining enough just trying to sort out your own little bubble of a brood. In truth, I think Mr H and I will be glad to see the back of 2010 and hope that 2011 will be somewhat calmer.

I have been thinking about what I have achieved in this past year. My little Blog reached a year old. I have faffed for over a year now....but thoroughly enjoyed it. What started out as a little blog diary of my makes, seems to become so much more than that. I have been inspired by others and met some truly wonderful people. I have enjoyed taking pics, actually taking time out to learn how to work my camera(!) and documenting my life over the past year. I have made a few makes....which pleases me immensely. I have indulged in a fair bit of crochet since learning at the end of last year... my new found friend. I Love colour......can you tell from my blog?! I need it...I have REALLY needed it this past year and I think it has helped me get through the greyest of days. So....here are a few pics of colour from the past year of my blog.......

My new found love

Colourful yarn

Bits and bobs

Colourful makes

Pastel pretties

Makes and buys

Christmas time

So, as I sign off for this year, let me take the opportunity to say a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and I hope that your NEW YEARS will each be great ones!

Cheerio all

Much love

Vanessa 

xxx

Slow down?

I fear I may have taken this whole chill out approach to Christmas a bit too far!

I am now realising just how close it is, and there are still a few makes to go. But a few more bits have been done....

Christmas chutney....made...labels done...ribbon attatched.

Chilli Jam....made...labels to be done.

All thanks to Nigella! I'm sure they will be enjoyed!

A sprinkling of snow dusted our way again. I cannot imagine what it must be like up North at the moment. Even the Bears are annoyed it is here again. They think it might hinder us seeing family this Christmas. We shall see.

It is cold. I have been wearing my granny squares scarf a lot. It is my Dr Who scarf. 

I made it long.........v-e-r-y long! I like to be able to wrap it round twice if it is really cold. It is snug and warm, and has become a very good friend to me.

I did make another one....stripy of course...and this has become quite a companion also.

Some wrist warmers and a hat to be made over christmas I think!

As usual, whilst Christmas shopping, I found Christmas presents for me instead of others! These did sneak in the basket. When I wake and walk around the house in the morning, it will be the pink striped scarf around my neck and these oh so pretty snuggle angora striped socks on my feet to keep the chill off! Mr H has it very easy!

Another find this week was a little bit of thrifted china, right up my street and a bargain. I just have to mix it in with the rest!

So, more to be done today, no slowing down yet. Are you organised yet?

Happy Friday and weekend to you all!

xxx

A bit closer....

...to getting there.....The tree is up.......

The lights are on and sparkly. For me, it has to be a twinkly tree. Twinkle equals magical, and that's the way it has to be in our house! I adore sitting cosied up in the evenings, watching the tree sparkle and shine.

I was so pleased with how the fimo snowflake decorations turned out, I shall plan to make some Snowflake garlands for my peg rails for next year. Meanwhile, the ones made this year grace the tree.

Happy Monday eveyone

xxx

Feeling Festive....

My love of Stripes. So, anyone who reads this blog regularly, knows, well, I really can't get enough!

I saw these.....

From The White Company and fell in love with them. Very me....but the price wasn't. £10 for a set of 3 mini striped stockings. Although I see now they have been reduced to £7.50 and have sold out.

Imagine my delight when in Sainsburys I see almost the exact same thing. £1 each and filled with snowmen chocolates! I love a bargain!

Also available in light green stripes. They will go nicely with my big stockings...

I also paid a visit to a Garden centre to check out their decorations this year, and came back with a few....

I don't know about you, but even if you have enough Christmas decorations to completely fill your house, somehow, it's not 'Christmas' if you don't get a few new ones each year. My tastes have always been quite plain when it comes to christmas decorations, but this year, I have found myself very drawn to the sprayed glass ornaments. I saw some beautiful ones in Heals with london Taxis etc but the price was way too much.....so I settled with these little ones...

Hats and mittens and all little wonderful delights...

Some glass candle clip decorations for the tree...

Can you believe the size of this glass heart? It is HUGE! Mr H will roll his eyes when he sees it, giving me that look of 'why? why? why?' But it just had to be. They had HUGE glass acorns which were also rather beautiful, but I thought I could probably just about get away with the heart, but that would be it! The little glass Santas stole my heart, such cheery, jolly little fellas.

I just have to get a tree now, so these little beauties are hanging around, waiting to be put up and shown in all their glory. So, I sit, and look at them....and smile...and feel really rather festive...sipping a nice hot latte from my cups which eventually arrived after a very long wait. so I smile and feel rosy today.

Perhaps a potter or two. A few more makes to be made and a poorly Baby Bear to snuggle up with.

xxx

Home made decorations...

Okay...so seriously surprising myself with my home makes. Once I have started, there seems to be no stopping me, although, I will probably completely have run out of steam by Christmas eve and spend Christmas day in a haze.

Baby Bear and I had fun making clay decorations. I usually use bog standard air dry clay, but I hate that I have to paint them afterwards. So, this time I thought I would try working with fimo. I got white and a salmon colour. Boy, they were hard work! Tough stuff to work with but not having to paint at the end was definitely a bonus!

xxxx