A Post For A Snowy Day

“Meanwhile,’ said Mr Tumnus, ‘it is winter in Narnia, and has been for ever so long, and we shall both catch cold if we stand here talking in the snow. Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe, how would it be if you came and had tea with me?” .... CS Lewis

..........I'd be delighted thank you! Would anyone else care to join me for a cup of summertime?

That was delicious!  but now it's time to step back outside and back into Narnia......
                                                                       ~*~
Yes, Winter finally arrived on Friday we awoke to a beautiful decorated landscape.

Creatures appeared in the garden. A hare with rose hip eyes.

And a sleepy fox.

And others that wanted to come out to play..

Have you ever stood barefoot in the snow?  I hadn't ever tried it, so thought it was about time that I did. :-)

After some fun time spent with other inhabitants of Narnia, I returned home and warmed up with the help of mulled wine and hot chocolate. That evening, Mr Tumnus was still on my mind so I decided to draw him in my sketchbook. 

                                                           'Tumnus Meets A Hare'

“Narnia! It's all in the wardrobe just like I told you!” 
...CS Lewis

Quiet Young Days of A New Year

2013.... I haven't got used to writing it yet. Yesterday I signed two papers 2012. It will take a while, it always does. Normally I have only just got used to writing the new year when it becomes old once again. What is it with this thing called time that a moment can seem forever and a day can seem a moment?  Christmas came and went in a flurry of  birthdays, glitter and merriment. The tree is still fresh and has hardly dropped any needles. Every now and then it shares memories of the forest and the scent of pine is caught. Just for a moment I am in the woods, a cold, crisp snow smell, the  howl of a lone wolf and snoring of sleepy bears.

 It felt sad to have to take it down this afternoon. 

New years day we woke to sun. I wondered what all the brightness was as I had almost forgotten that there was a golden ball of fire up there after the endless days of rain. ;)

There is one addition that arrived on Christmas eve that won't be getting put away in the box with the other decorations. Let me introduce you...

Yes, he will be living inside, though not where he is in this picture. At the time there was nowhere else to put him, but now the tree has gone I shall have a shuffle about of things. I was thinking of stringing some white lights around his antlers, what do you think?

                                                                        ~*~

I haven't got any new artwork or creations that I have made to show you so I thought I'd share these for no other reason than how pretty they look. Bath melts that I was very lucky to receive as Christmas gifts. They look too good to use, maybe that's why I need to record them? 

These ones below are from Lush one of my most favourite shops.  Again they look too good to use and smell quite frankly.......Lush!  ;) 

The hobbits (teens) go back to school on Tuesday so my recharging break has come to an end.  I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio and the new journey of this brand new year. I  hope you will join me here and that yours will be filled with love, fun, health, happiness, peace and magic.
Thank you for all your comments and good wishes that you leave here.
Happy new year! xxx

Christmas Eve

It's dark out, the rain has stopped and the moon is shining onto our now quiet village. Christmas lights twinkle from trees in windows. People are tucked into their homes wrapping last minute gifts or sitting by the fire with a glass of something. I just came back from delivering the remainder of my Christmas cards and looking at all the cosy insides of homes reminded me of how lucky I am to have somewhere  warm and dry and snug to sleep, not just tonight but on all nights and how grateful I am for it. I've finished making the mince pies  and in a while I am going to sit and watch 'The Snowman And The Snow Dog' so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! x

                                                                           ~X~                                                                                                                        

Winter King

These past few days I've enjoyed adding the final decorations to our home. Holly, ivy and my favourite, mistletoe. There is just something which attracts me about mistletoe. For those of you who have read this blog over the last few years, you will know that each year I try to get it to grow on my apple and hawthorn tree. As yet I have still not been successful and this years bunch again comes from our local farm shop. So it's not really growing in my tree, I just placed it there to photograph. :)

I  finished a painting the other day. I have named him 'Winter King' seen here in a wintry collage. 

I'm sure Winter will inspire some more icy work yet, so watch this space.  'Winter King' is available to buy as a print in my Etsy shop here. Last posting date is tommorow, so there is still a teeny bit of time to buy if you are still looking for gifts. 

It's raining today but I'm wishing for more frosty weather, as in the picture above, taken last week.
I suppose being mild is easier on the heating bills though, that's one good thing...

All Is Covered In Ice

It's bitter cold today and everything is covered in ice. The jackdaws and rooks look even blacker against the winter white of misted sky. A perfect day for hot chocolate and hot chestnuts. I have the hot chocolate but not the chestnuts... yet.

The earth frozen now. All the water that fell only a couple of weeks ago has gone, though there are glimpses of it remaining in solid puddles.

So much beauty visible in skeletal forms and delicate lace of ice crystals.

Even the barbed wire was transformed into an object of fairy tale wonder.

The pictures above were taken yesterday. Today the frost is even more spectacular. I went for a morning walk to soak up the magic.

I've been having a little breather over the last week or so. November was the busiest I've ever been so I'm recharging, getting the Christmas decorations up and doing some of my own Christmas shopping.
The house is beginning to look pretty and most of the cobwebs have been removed, much to the spiders disgust. But I'm sure they will make more soon.
Birds have taken up residence in the garland above the fireplace and there are reindeer on the branch in the dining room.

Just the tree to be put up this evening now.
I hope your festive preparations are going well?

Old Cards For Sale

The other day I tried to get into my wardrobe. No, I wasn't trying to get to Narnia, just trying to access my clothes. It's not really a wardrobe, more a cupboard and is very awkward to get into at the best of times as you have to bend your head awkwardly. It would be perfect for a hobbit in fact....  Anyway I noticed that the cupboard has managed to become filled with clutter, you know the way things do! But not only my clutter, it seems I have accumulated everyone else's too. Hmm?  I started to sort some things out and found a bag filled with old cards. These cards are greeting cards that I did for a publishing company years back. I can't sell them on Etsy because they were produced for a company, so I wondered if anyone would be interested in buying any? It seems a waste just to let them sit in a cupboard?
If you are interested send me an email or message me your email address and let me know which ones you want and I will invoice you via Paypal. I'm afraid I can only accept Paypal payment.

Price  £5.00 for a pack of six mixed cards  P&P £2  (P&P for any extra add 50p  per pack) UK postage. For anywhere else I would add on extra.

Pack 1

A closer look... All designs were painted between 1996 and 2003. In fact, if I waited a bit longer I suppose I could sell them as vintage on Etsy. :-)
White fairy angel hares with wings, and hare and friends festivities. The white hare has been on my journey with me for quite a while.

These are all 7x5 in size.
                                              SOLD OUT

                                                      ~*~

Pack 2  
Angel designs.                         SOLD OUT.
Size 4x7.5

The cards are mainly blank inside, but a few of the Angel one's have 'Seasons Greetings' written inside. The design wraps right around and continues on the backs of each card.
There are a limited amount, so I will sell them on a first come first served basis.
                         ~*~
I'm  trying to fit in as many wooden bits and pieces before Christmas as I can. These pendants were finished last night, and they will be listed in my Etsy shop later today.

Have a great weekend folks.  I'm off to bake a cake now for Husbands birthday today.
 X

A Watery Week

"Can you hear it? It breathes, as you breathe.

I want you to hear the whole island-as it is now,at this very moment. There is the sea's stirring,always. But also, there are many sounds on Parla which are more than the waves, more than the stones being moved by them. The sheep bleat throatily. A wooden gate squeaks open. There are tiny bells on a piece of string which dance, and call out sing-sing-sing. In a house with herbs on its windowsill a kettle is boiling- its metal lid is starting to rattle, and there are footsteps coming to it and a woman is saying I'm here,I'm here....to the kettle,as if the kettle understands her...."  

Extract from 'The Silver Dark Sea' By Susan Fletcher

For the past couple of weeks I've been reading into the quiet hours past midnight, enchanted with the words of Susan Fletcher's latest book The 'Silver Dark Sea'. Submerged in nightly bathwater, I've been captivated by a watery tale of an island and a fish man.  

I just love how she writes. You may remember last year I shared another of her books 'Witchlight' which has become one of my all time favourites. I've put the link to this book on the Amazon widget  (further down on the right hand side bar)  if you are interested in taking a look.

The book and the very wet weather that we have had lately must surely have contributed to my inspiration for a new grey seal/selkie  hanger design. 

It has rained and rained and again there was not enough room in the river, so the fields have been turned into lakes that glisten in moonlight when the rain has a rest from falling.

So much water. Beneath, the grass has turned into swaying water nymph hair.

We are lucky as we live on a hill, but I feel so very sorry for everyone that has been flooded.

~*~ 

It's been extremely busy here. Between packing orders, answering emails and numerous trips to the post office it has been hard fitting in any new work and many things I had planned to do, have been put back for now.  But, it's all wonderful and I'm so very grateful to anyone that has bought from me, recently or in the past. Without you, I wouldn't be able to have the time to indulge and 'create' as a job. So here's a big X for you!  ;) 

These hares below are the one's I told you that I was working on in my last post. Blackberry, hazel, hawthorn and  oak. These have already been added to my shop and have already sold, but I thought I'd share anyway.  

Have a good week and stay dry if you can. 

 ~*~

New Cards

This photograph taken the other day, is to me, just what I always imagine a typical November day to look like. I love days like this.

Misty, quiet, sheep peaceful, rook chatter, the smell of bonfire. So different to last week when we had our first hard frost. I love days like this too.

It was wonderful again to see the frosted branches. I've missed them.

Later the sky was clear and the remaining hazel leaves shone in the lowering Autumn sun.

So pretty.
                                                                            ****
I've been having a digital play about with some of my small Aceo paintings. Adding some words and making them into cards.

I've already added some to my Etsy shop, but they sold out pretty quickly, so will be making more.
I also made these too, which haven't been digitally played with.

Now I'm working on more hares (soon to be revealed) and here are what I like to call my helpers or watchers because they overlook my desk. 

The egg is the dragon egg made of moonlight that I mentioned in my last post. 

Here's a closer look...

I think I might leave it on the windowsill in the moonlight one night, it may need recharging of magic? ;)

                                                                             ***

Oh before I go...one more thing!  Remember back, not so long ago. When the roses scented the path and the corn flowers danced in the breeze I was working on some illustrations for a book. Well that book, Madeline, Maddy And Midge, Positive Thinking For Children, is now available to buy here and also here 

  :-) 

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