Orchid + camera news

Did you all have a lovely Christmas? I hope so. Mine was very nice. I ate a bit, drank a bit, hung out with family and had the odd nap thrown in for good measure.

I had to share the beautiful Palaenopsis orchid my parents gave me. Isn't it stunning? Just so beautiful it almost looks fake.

And did you notice how nice and clear these shots are? I hope so, because the pics were taken with my new camera!!

Yes!! I can finally stop complaining that I don't have a camera as Molly gifted me one for Christmas.

Well, at least Lyndon tells me it was from her, but I have no idea how she went to the shops with her sore knee.

So, I'm really excited and have been merrily snapping away.

Without even knowing what cameras I had been thinking about, Molly bought me a Canon 600D - one of the models I was rather keen on. So spoilt!

Yay, so you might see some nice, clear shots on the old blog from now on. I have felt like I have neglected it a bit so think might be just what I need.

So now I wish you a very happy new year - I really hope it's a great one for all of us.

xx

ps these shots were taken with a 50mm lens on f1.8 :)

Molly's Christmas video

Merry Christmas everyone!

It's terrible quality and has a bit of a slow start, but here is Molly unwrapping her pressies this morning....

Let's just say that her pressies didn't last long.

Have a safe and happy day!

Love to you all

xx

Christmas is almost here

The stockings are hung and Christmas is only 1 sleep away!

I thought I had better share my Christmas decorations with you :)

This year the mantelpiece has gone with a white, silver and red theme. I am really happy with it.

The tree took me almost a full day to set up. There are some pressies under it now, which finishes it off :)

More shots of the mantel... including our stockings, one for each of us.  

Molly's is empty as she sniffs it out and won't leave us alone.

A stunning hippeastrum decided to bloom on cue this year.

And Harry horse is also feeling festive.

I made a Christmas cupcake tree/painted stick scenario in the hallway. Neon pink and turquoise. A bit kooky but I am enjoying it.

My big glass dome has become a little Christmassy with the addition of candles, holly, mushrooms, pinecones and mossy greenery.

And the pressies are wrapped!

This year I went for neutral, white and hand painted neon and really like it.

So now is the time to wish you all a lovely Christmas. I hope it is everything you wish it to be.

Take care when driving, ok?

Hugs to you all xx

Molly update

Molly loves Christmas. Here she is checking out the gifts under the tree the other day. She checks them on a daily basis and if she gets extra excited, she has been known to do a little early unwrapping - just to help out the gift recipient of course!

She sniffed out her pressies which I had placed on the dining table, so they are now in a new, unreachable spot. I cannot put a pressie in her Christmas stocking until Christmas eve or we just never hear the end of it - she snaps at us, wanting to open it.

So how is her leg?

Well, I thought everything was going really well, up until Thursday. I took her back to the vet last Tuesday who removed the stitches, but did have to draw a heap of fluid out of the knee. Apparently its a common reaction to surgery.

The fluid built up again over the next couple of days and early Thursday morning it popped, leaking fluid everywhere. Nice. I had to wash a tonne of bedding.

So, now she has a hole in her leg where it popped. She had also started limping (very badly) on it again.

It has kept weeping so last night I took her back to the vet who has given her another course of antibiotics. The weeping could be a reaction to the synthetic material that was put in to hold the joints together. We will know when the wound had healed and when the antibiotics are finished. If her body is rejecting the material, it will swell up again. God I hope this is not the case.

Or, perhaps she has pulled the joint when outside for a wee and that's why she is limping. This is not good either as all our hard work will be down the toilet again.

Or, hopefully she is limping due to the hole in her leg causing her pain. (what a weird thing to say!)

I'm feeling really stressed about it and so frustrated after everything seemed to be going well.

Cross your fingers (and everything else) for us that it comes good, please.

xx

Bits and Bobs...Christmas

It has been such a long time since I have done a Bits and Bobs post - so here one is!

This theme is obviously Christmas decorations. I really enjoyed unpacking my deccies this year - I always seem to forget what I have and it's also nice to see my favourites again.

Above we have a new little felt hedgehog by Natasha from The Snow Queen's Garden, a couple of vintage style glass birds (the owl is new for this year - I love it), perspex by Dick and Dora, a red felt one made by me a few years ago, the spotty one which is actually a place name holder, a green bell, an old soldier from my parent's tree and the cupid which I brought back from the Tower of London in 1996 for Mum.

I'll be back with some more piccies of the tree and so on, as well as a Molly update.

Only 2 more days of work for me! So excited and really happy that I am actually organised! Unheard of for me, but that's great. I did want to write cards for a heap of people, but that just hasn't happened. I'm not going to worry and hope they/you don't either.

xx

More new scarves

Hi everyone, I hope you are all well. I wanted to share some new scarf designs with you. I had ordered these for my market stall a few weeks ago but wouldn't you know, they turned up two days late.

This is the Eiffel Scene scarf. It is the same image as the blue scarf from my first batch, but this is in neutral tones. I had a couple of these made in a Modal fabric (viscose, made from wood!) and they have already sold. The other two are on Etsy :)

Below is my "Correspondance" shawl, also in modal fabric, 28 x 80 inches in size.

The image is the reverse of a postcard.

Below is a close-up. You can see the slightly open weave of the fabric. It is quite soft to feel.

And this is the Zephir and Persephone shawl.

I was actually expecting it to be a bit more black and white than it is, there is quite a bit of colour in there and I am assuming this is just the printing process.

The image actually show the marriage of Zephir and Persephone, with the odd chubby cherub thrown in for good measure.

I'm going to do another order of the first fabrics and get those on Etsy as soon as I can.

Thanks for dropping by!

xx
ps I will be back soon with a bit of Christmas action.

New jewellery creations

I just wanted to share with you my most recent jewellery creations. I made these for the market I attended and will either pop the the leftovers on etsy or take some into the gallery I supply now that the market is over.

Above are some little pins I made from vintage brooch fittings and tiny optometrist test lenses.

Above are simple mild steel chains with freshwater pearls.

A few pendants made from mild steel chain, made by me, vintage optometrist lenses with images from my collections of antique French postcards and freshwater pearls. I quite fancy the close up image of the Eiffel Tower.

Above are some chains and a bracelet made from mild steel and antique shoe buttons.

And above is a brooch made from silk dupion, a 1940's German glass heart button and a faux pearl drop. These were a bit of a hit so I will definitely be making more.

There you have it!

I have some new scarves too that I will show you next time :)

Have a good day!

xx

Molly update

As many of you will know, Molly had a second lot of surgery on her knee last Friday.

She has been doing well, and so far, so good with keeping the stitches in (unlike last time).

We have kept a very close eye on her. She is either locked in the lounge if we are about, or shut in the bedroom with a cone around her neck (we refer to it as her party hat). She hates it.

She is on painkillers, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Why is it I get the job of administering it all to her?

We go back in around 8-10 days to get the stitches out and to have a look at how we are progressing.

All being well, we are booking her in for stem cell therapy on the joint in the new year. Stem cells are injected into the joint and this really aids healing and the growth of the good stuff in joints. As it was, when she had the surgery the vet discovered a lot of bad calcium growth, which was probably causing a good part of the pain. We would like to avoid that happening again and I think this stem cell therapy could really help.

There you have it! Thank you all for your well wishes. I really do pass on hugs that are 'virtually' sent over the net :)

xx

Friday furries... a stressful day

A very stressful day as out Molly dog goes to the vet for repeat ACL surgery on her knee.

I'm the meany who gets to drop her off this morning and leave her there. I hate it, but it must be done if she is to have a better chance to be able to walk without a limp and stand with all four feet on the ground.

We still have our mattress on the floor so she won't be jumping up (it's impossible to keep her off the bed) and we have a baby gate to keep her out of certain rooms where she might jump on the couch.

We are going to be tough on her in order to give her a better chance of recovery.

It will not be fun.

Look at that face. We just want her to be happy.

Send us positive doggy leg healing thoughts?

Have a good Friday and I'll be back with an update in the next few days.

xx

(last pic taken by my sister, the others by me)

Market success!

Well, the day didn't start off great. I was in recovery mode from chronic hay fever due to the high winds on Saturday and while getting everything sorted and packed I managed to break 2 mirrors. Yes. TWO mirrors. And cut my hand in the process. Well, it was either going to be a disaster or maybe the 2nd mirror was going to cancel out the superstitions of the first.

Thankfully I think the later was true :)

The market was a success!

The scarves received really great feedback and I sold 8 of my 9. Two are being sent to Montreal and another is going travelling to Europe next year. The scarves will be far more well travelled than me!

The little heart brooches I made from 1940's German glass buttons, vintage faux pearls and silk were also a success - I sold them all. I wish I had made more.

And funnily enough, the thing both Lyn and I thought would sell best, the Paris pouches, didn't do as well as expected, but that's fine, it means I can put them on Etsy!

Despite it being a long day I had a good time and it was great chatting to friends and meeting bloggy and instagram buddies for the first time. Thanks so much for dropping by!

What next?

Well, I have to tidy up my studio (crazy messy!) and then I will get a few little bits made that I will pop on Etsy. I have some scarves I hope will arrive today and will (maybe after Christmas) re-order some of the popular fabric that I will make into scarves again.

By the way, did someone mention Christmas? 

Only 3 weeks away? 

I have way too much to do!

xx