Sunday morning.
Chocolate brownies, a half finished Christmas tree and a full eight hours sleep. EIGHT HOURS!!!
After a fortnight of working till after midnight, sewing machine whirring regularly at 1 am, erratic eating, baking at midnight - finally, I can see light at the end of my owl tunnel. Just four owls to go...
These are three of six owls that went to Edinburgh last week. I love these fabric combinations.
Ten months in, and this is my first Christmas trading as The Sherbet Patch.
Phew!!! November - busy, busy, busy.
December - swamped with order deadlines, but today I can see a chink of light in the owl paraphernalia that has slowly taken over my front room. I'm on the home stretch with my order book, and there will be room for a Christmas tree after all!
Exhausted. And looking forward to a two week break over Christmas. The last time I had more than a day off from sewing was July. Self employment is tough, but satisfying. I've learned a lot this year.
I source my material from many different places - online, independent retailers, Liberty, John Lewis...Brick Lane. However, you can't beat the satisfaction gained from unearthing a gem in a charity shop, and the gorgeous (fully lined!) tweed above - complete with original labeling - was found lurking amongst the polyester duvets in a Swansea charity shop. Love at first touch!
Of all the fabrics I have in my stash, this has got to be my all time favourite!
It is the epitome of 70's flower power, once an original 1970's St. Michael's curtain, and now a groovy, snoozy cat doorstop.
http://folksy.com/items/3900726-Snoozy-cat-doorstop-Marigold
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
11.56 on a gloomy Sunday morning, a morning just 23 days before Christmas! How did that happen? I must admit to being pretty jaded about Christmas, the magic disappearing once children grow up and away, and Father Christmas is relegated to little more than a cartoon character. And what exactly do you buy MEN???
But there is one thing I do love about cold, December evenings. A fire - a real, log fire roaring in the grate, and my dad is particularly wonderful with log foraging.
There is something mesmerising about a fire; the flames, the hiss and spit of the logs and toasty toes.
And although I may be missing the magic of Christmas, I am loving the fantastic Christmas fabrics on sale this year, particularly this red reindeer material. It is a cream and red cotton fabic by Kokka, which has a crisp, timeless, Scandinavian feel to it.
http://folksy.com/items/3892706-Festive-owl-cushion-23cm-tall-
This week I have also been pondering how easy it is to let friendships slide. In this age of technology it should be easier than ever to keep in touch, but I must be getting lazy, as I discovered yesterday that a very dear friend got married thee weeks ago and I knew nothing about it! Admittedly, he lives a thousand miles away in a beautiful part of Israel, but as part of a large group of friends still in touch after 20 years, I was amazed how few of us knew that Shimon had got married and we'd somehow missed it! Obviously, men aren't very good at passing on information. Unless it's a football result...
Looking back on a week in which I have waved 24 owls off to Newcastle, an emergency food parcel to Cheltenham, closed my Facebook orderbook and rediscovered fishfinger sandwiches. And now, inspired by my mum's Sunday dinner, the sweet smell of apple and cinnamon is wafting round, as a crumble cooks in the oven. Apple crumble - pure comfort food!
Cinnamon is said to be the happy spice - said to lift spirits. Well, maybe it's the cinnamen, maybe it's the fairylights - or maybe it's knowing that I'm no longer behind on my orders - but I'm feeling very relaxed.
And happier now that I know my 20 year old son has food in his cupboards again, after the bank took a sudden interest in a depleted and beyond student bank account! And how good are Tesco? Order in Swansea, deliver to Cheltenham, all within 24 hours and all for £3.50!!!
This afternoon I listed Petunia on Folksy. Or all the owls I have made, Petunia is a definite favourite. I love the delicate colour palette, and she's very appealing. As is my apple crumble :)
http://folksy.com/items/3850014-Small-owl-cushion-Petunia
Sometimes, I feel my home is being taken over by owls. Owls in various stages of production, draped decoratively over tables, the ironing board...in trees.
Waking up today, peering out at the winter sky and my first thought was ''What a great day for photographing owls!'' And not the feathery kind, now that would be understandable. Oh no - my owls are floral or tweed or bedecked in tartan, and photographing them involves conifer trees or blankets draped on chairs...all in broad daylight, usually in pyjamas. That's me in pyjamas, not the owls. Now that would be silly!
Much as I love owls, I have wanted to make a fox for a while, but have been snowed under with orders.
However, I have now cracked the owl backlog, so after a very productive rummage amongst bolts of gorgeous, autumnal, woollen fabrics I have made my first fox cushion! I love the contrast of the orange fox against the burgundy background, and am now working on a snoozy fox, all curled up, with his head resting on his bushy tail. Move over, owls!
http://folksy.com/items/3828670-Baby-Fox-cushion-
