merry happy

hello there!

I just wanted to show a few (not great) photos of my house and the little bit of decorating I have done

I leave tomorrow for the US, so didn’t want to put too many things out, since I won’t actually see them

this is the scene outside my front window-

I live in a tiny little alleyway......so quite a few people walk by right outside the window

at night there are little crazy blinking blue lights

I spent most of the day at home - it has been raining all day.

so I made a litte fire in our "rustic” fireplace

it was a lot more glowy and sweet in real life

the opposite wall is one of my husband’s chilli plants drying

when we lived in Germany, and he was able to grow many, many chillies in the hot summer sun,

our ceiling beams would be covered in hanging chili plants!

here in England, in our sad little north-facing postage stamp-sized garden......this is all we managed

the fireplace mantle has a few birds and a garland on it -

very toned down compared to the last two years

and......the most exciting of all:

we finally got the shelf up in the kitchen!

was so exciting unpacking things I haven't seen in years!

still no place for the cookbooks tho

we have another single shelf, but didn’t measure it......

and it is too long to fit anywhere! oops

well, that’s about it

see you in the States!

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday.......

thanks to everyone who has come to my blog and commented on what I have been doing -

or to just have a look

I appreciate it so much

__a

finished

well, here it is!

yes, I know the photos are terrible

it doesn’t have quite the emotion I originally wanted; but think I like the way it turned out anyway

now, let's hope someone else does!

the show it is going into is to raise money for a local group:

http://www.patinalewes.com/#/login/4541086101

it is a very chilly and sunny day today - I am off to Brighton to see if there is anything that

I cannot live without - or would make a nice gift for someone...........

tomorrow; it’s on to my in-laws for the weekend,

so hope everyone has a lovely weekend of their own

thank you so much for stopping by

__a

red and white

I am almost done with my latest work

it will be in a show which is explained here:

http://www.patinalewes.com/#/login/4541086101

I ended up adding more red by needle felting it into the background,

which I think looks better; softer than my original stitches

I am thinking of maybe adding a piece of lace and a few more stitches,

but need to get going on that as it is to be delivered to the gallery this Friday morning.

I think the black background goes better...do you??

Thanks again goes to Marco Crivello who asked me to participate in this show.

I am then going up to Suffolk to visit with my in-laws since we

will be in the US for Christmas

I leave next week already! I do not really feel ready.......but then again......

doubt I would get much more done if I was home longer

my head is still sort of floating around and cannot quite land and focus

I am SO looking forward to the new year

this one has been so up and down; such extremes

am looking forward to coming back and getting back to my plans!

it is really cold here........altho no more snow

I hope everyone else is doing well and gearing up for

an exciting and beautiful holiday season

__a

snow!

well, the weatherman actually got it right!

we had a beautiful snowfall last night -

and now everything is covered in sparkly, heavy, wet snow -

perfect for snowmen and snowballs!

cafe next to my studio

some snowy ladies in the courtyard

actually, its normally used as a greenhouse

have been working on my new work........added the red slash

am now adding more hand stitching and still plan on white and perhaps red beads added too

I have to admit......this isn’t emitting the emotions I was wanting it to

but am not completely sure how to do that right now....

or whether I want to actually unleash all that

I think to do that; I would need

a) a bigger project......size-wise I mean

b) more time

so...will just keep at this and see where it takes me

hope everyone is keeping warm - keeping creative

and thank you so much to everyone who has commented here

such nice things......

__a