Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year friends! 

I hope that you have all had a wonderful festive period, however you choose to celebrate. Were you all up partying last night or were you like us and in bed at 10pm? I did stay awake until midnight to say hello to the new year but I was the only one conscious so it was a very quiet "Happy New Year" moment - apart from all of the snoring around me. 

I don't make resolutions as such but I do have some wishes that I would like to try to make happen in 2025; some new adventures, places to visit and routines to start. I'm also going to try and go a bit easier on myself. I wear many hats and have many plates to juggle and I found myself getting a bit lost in it all last year, feeling a bit alone with everything that suddenly appeared on my to do lists, overwhelmed and frustrated. I think I hide it well and outwardly appear to have it all under control but it is bottled up inside, fizzing away until something gives and the thing giving way is usually me and my wants. My aim is to try and not take on as much - which I find difficult as I like to be involved in lovely things and find myself offering for roles or tasks almost by accident - or to ask more for help where I can. We shall see!

 

It's been a pretty quiet first day of 2025 for us. Usually we all meet up in a big family group and have a big lunch, almost like a repeat of Christmas but without the gift giving, but this year various family members were already promised to meet with others so my parents were just going to come to us for a roast dinner but now The Mother isn't very well so it's back to me, Reece, Baby F and the cat ringing in the new year by ourselves. 

These photos are from a couple of weeks ago when we took the smalls to one of our usual haunts, Sheffield Park. The weather was unexpectedly beautiful. Chilly but sunny with gorgeous blue sky and we took full advantage to get out as it's been so dismal and wet. As I type today it's pouring with rain, dark, and windy as we are finishing off a hurricane from somewhere. Not nice at all . 

Sheffield Park now has peacocks roaming the grounds as well which is rather exciting! They aren't as friendly as the ducks, who will eat out of your hand, but we might get some fun displays from the boys - or some pretty feathers to collect over the summer!

There was a winter trail based on The Snowman which we whizzed round as we'd gone rather late in the day. There were big snowmen cleverly painted on the themes of the 12 days of Christmas, little wooden snowmen of the one from The Snowman books and film, and then extra little fun bits for children to explore, and some of the trees had music coming from them! It is such a beautiful place and I feel really lucky to have it so close to us.

We didn't get time to come here during toadstool season to really look for the different varieties that pop up across the site - but I still managed to sniff out these beauties!

I took advantage of the period just before the Christmas days to catch up on my blog writing (a bit like I'm doing now). Cosied up inside with coffee and cake whilst Baby F was at his last nursery day. It has been very sweet to have our first few months of nursery experiences. He was Rudolph in his nativity and had a cute little costume. The children are 2-4 years old so it wasn't a performance so much as a sing-song with a quick overview of the nativity story read out. But Baby F danced in circles during each of the songs, he sat and stood when told and he smiled and did the actions. One of my best nursery experiences was giving a small token gift of homemade gingerbread stars to the lollipop lady who helps us cross the road each morning. She was over the moon and I was profusely thanked which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

It's been nice to have evenings where I'm not writing Christmas cards, wrapping presents, checking lists, getting last minute presents, cooking biscuits, finishing up end of term reports and business etc to sit and stitch! The cat enjoys these evenings too I think, just me and him on the sofa. Usually he's sleeping in strange positions but occasionally his kitten-ness comes out and he gets in trouble for chasing/stealing threads or trying to squeeze himself inside my project bag. 

I've been working on my Misty Shadows Stitchscape Swap cards and I will try and photograph them when the light is better. My camera is unfortunately still broken (thanks to the cat) so hopefully my phone camera will be able to do them justice. We are still waiting for cards to come in for the swap so it may be next week that I'm able to send them out to everyone. 

The themes and prompts for this year's Stitchscape swap is up and ready for you on my website, here. All are welcome to join in - even if you don't want to actually join in with the swapping you can still make your own little cards based on the themes and participate in the challenge of them in that way. 

I was given some amazing cosmic print fabrics for Christmas so yesterday I started a new little hoop to try and play with some of the patterns and colours. This will probably be my bus project for the next couple of months so we'll have to see where it ends up! 

Potentially there are some new events and opportunities coming up in 2025 - there is already quite a list on my website. I had an online meeting with a new gallery and workshop space about a series of workshops further in the year from Easter which I am waiting to here back about, there's possibly an exhibition that I've been talking about to have in collaboration with another textile artist, and I have today started sorting out some selling events and have applied to a couple of craft events so we'll see where that goes! Thank you to everyone who made 2024 such a great year for Dotty Textiles; invited me to workshops, came to workshops and listened at talks, sent me pictures of their pieces, purchased from Etsy or my website, left a lovely review, joined in the Stitchscape swap, passed on my details to a friend or followed me online. All of it is so appreciated!

Cheers to 2024, and hello to 2025!

New Year at Scotney Castle

Happy New Year!! Welcome 2023!

It has been a wet and windy start to the year (I'm a Brit, we always open conversation with the weather). Grey and damp and miserable - apart from Monday 2nd January, which was gloriously sunny with blue skies and fluffy white clouds. We ended up going for a walk around Scotney Castle in the afternoon with my sister, two nephews, their aunt and a mad spaniel, which was lovely! 

The most picturesque bit, and possibly the most recognisable part of Scotney, is the old 'castle' at the bottom of the hill which dates back to 1378. It was transformed into a romantic ruin, as part of re-landscaping the garden in the 1830s, by Edward Hussey III when he built the newer house at the top of the hill with its mod-cons and fancy rooms. The old building was becoming dated and cramped with six children running around. You can still walk around some of the rooms in the round corner tower, although they have been closed off for winter now. 

It was getting fairly late in the afternoon (for January time anyway as it is dark at 4.30pm at the moment) as we wandered round. We had intended on going earlier but hadn't realised that it was the last day of their Christmas event and you had to pre-book the carpark - on arrival we were advised to go back an hour later for a chance to get in so went off to have some lunch in a nearby posh pub. Unfortunately for us, we went back an hour and a half later and were advised that we had to wait another half an hour somewhere!! So after all of that sitting in the car waiting (it seemed silly to just go back home at that point) it was rather lovely to eventually be able to get out and stretch our legs. 

These photos don't show quite how busy it was with couples and young families strolling around (although to be fair, most of them had ended up in the café). There were quite a lot of dogs on leads too so we were stopped many times by other dog owners to compare breeds and say hello to all of the furry friends.

It was a nice afternoon though, completed with a Butterscotch Steamer (ordered for the intrigue) and chocolate brownie, and a lovely way to welcome in the new year. Now of course we are back to grey and miserable weather with cloud so thick I can't see the view from our kitchen window. 

We are on the other side of winter now though and heading toward spring! I have planted my Hyacinth and Narcissus bulbs in my pots and topped them with Primroses for some colour on our balcony. I'm just hoping that we don't get a heavy frost or that the bottom of the saddle pots don't get too waterlogged and ruin the bulbs. We shall see in a few months time if my efforts have been worth it!

End Of Year Review

 (January)

Happy New Year!! 

Welcome to 2018! The year has kick started with damp, dreary, miserable days full of rain and Storm Dylan (very strange name for a bit of wind), but I have been travelling back in time looking through my blog posts for 2017 and remembering sunny summer days, blistering hot holidays and days spent with family and friends.
This will be my 8th year of blogging- having published my first post on 10th January 2011- and I find it a great way of remembering the things that I have achieved throughout the year, as well as the little moments that are captured on camera and then forgotten; bees on flowers, aeroplane trails on a blue sky, sunsets and sunrises.

 (February)

This year I have been focusing a lot on my Stitchscapes, which are still worked around a full time job and take up all of my spare time and energy. In January the Snowy Alps, and Moonlight Reflections stitchscapes were completed, and February saw the arrival of the Moorland and Heather 'scapes. Between these I somehow squeezed in a lot of crochet (on the bus if I remember correctly), making several things for display at work, and my Moorland CAL blanket whilst joining in with other blog readers following Lucy at Attic24. 

 (March)

In March I moved into my new studio space which I think was a big milestone as it's a space I can leave things out and they won't be moved! Before the studio I was completing stitchscapes and they would be immediately packed away into boxes and put in a cupboard, never to be seen again, in the interest of keeping the house tidy. In the studio, I can display them how I want, move them around, leave my tools out on the table.... utter bliss. 

 (April)

I think this is one of my favourite months. As a family we visited lots of different places; Standen, Nymans and the Weald & Downland Living Museum, which are all so inspiring and full of the most amazing plants- especially Standen as we went during the Tulip festival and every space you looked in was stuffed with brightly coloured tulips in all shapes and sizes. 

I also completed the Bluebell Woods and Flowing River stitchscapes, along with another set of Stitchscape Minis. 

 (May)

May is full of memories of the sea. The Parents and I went to Hastings for fish and chips along the seafront, walking through the ramshackle fisherman huts and the slightly rusty boats to the best chip shop in town (it said so in the window). Moon Flower Town, Cow Parsley and Dry Stone Meadow were all additions to the collection in this month- highly productive!

 (June)

Family weddings, an awe-inspiring trip to Sorrento (especially Pompeii) and my first art/craft exhibition with Bridge Arts in Uckfield kicked off the summer months. I also managed to stitch up four stitchscapes! Sorrento Sunrise, Gold Rush, Emerald Isle and Incoming Tide ready for future craft fairs as I really caught the bug.

 (July)

Marwell Zoo, a trip to London and The Natural History Museum came in July, along with another craft exhibition at Bridge Cottage during the Uckfield Festival. I've had some very encouraging and enthusiastic comments at my craft fairs and I am very thankful for them as they keep me going. I will always want to sew and would probably continue my stitchscapes even if my adventure with them doesn't lead anywhere, but the kind and supportive comments I have received in this last year have really made me want to take them further and see where it will take me. 

 (August)

In August we had The Mother's big birthday, and a day out at Waddesdon Manor to celebrate, at her request. The rest of the time was spent mostly with the usual routine, apart from a day trip to Brighton beach on my own, and lazy weekends in the sunshine at home. The stitchscapes became a lot more wintry as I started thinking about my upcoming November craft fairs and the C*******s present buying rush. 

 (September)

Our holiday to Star in Wales was very eventful with pretty terrible weather- even for Wales! Our holiday home became stranded in flood waters for a morning and we had the most amazing sky scenes when it wasn't actually raining where we were, as the rest of the sky filled with terrible threatening clouds. Autumn really kicked in during September. I also cracked on in the studio, organising and packaging new card designs and trying to take inventory of what I had to update my Etsy shop. 

 (October)

The Mother and I travelled up to the Alexandra Palace Knitting & Stitching show (one of my birthday presents), which is always such an amazing event- and so bad for my bank balance!. We also had our second little craft fair at Bridge Cottage, which is a very sweet venue but with very bad lighting. I carved pumpkins, made pumpkin muffins, mounted all of my Stitchscape minis to be framed in their own tiny box frames, and started making stitchscape Christmas decorations; 10cm hoops with a loop of lace to be hung up on Christmas trees. I loved making these, they were so quick and easy, and reminded me of why I started stitchscape-ing in the first place. No pressure to do something fantastic, just the fabric to follow with whatever I wanted and see where it goes. 

 (November)

This was a very exciting month for Dotty Textiles, we had another craft fair at Barnsgate Manor which was fantastic and freezing! We also opened up shop in a new premises called Tunbridge Wells Artisans (TWA) which is very exciting. The location is a little strange and there is unfortunately no on-site parking, but the building is well worth visiting as there is so much in there from so many talented artists- plus the pub next door does amazing fish finger sandwiches. 

(December)

During December I had a couple of Christmas commissions to finish which thankfully all went well and completed on time. Elves, Angus & Flora, also returned to make sure that we prepared properly for Christmas, causing chaos and hilarity in their wake. We have very strong traditions in our family during this time, from the way we open our stockings on Christmas morning, the breakfast and family present opening routine (waiting for Dad to make his coffee, throwing the wrapping paper at bin bags on the floor and tormenting the cat with scraps of paper), and the extended family present opening routines. Each side of the family approaches Christmas in a totally different way, and we alternate which side we go to first- sometimes present opening is slow and takes several hours as we open them one by one, and sometimes it's over in ten minutes as there's a general free-for-all. It's lovely and exciting. 

So, I go into the new year with some new ideas- the little Christmas hoops made in October/November time have inspired me to try some slightly larger hoops in a more scene-like way, and I am totally loving these! I also have a prospective new outlet to display some of my stitchscapes which I will look into more later on in January. 

I hope that you can all look back at your year and find many fond memories to make you smile. I wish you all the very best for 2018! x 

Year Of The Rooster

Kung Hei Fat Choi! A very merry Chinese Happy New Year! It is of course, year of the Rooster this time around, although I'm not sure I know any Roosters to be able to specifically congratulate them. Our celebrations weren't as grand as last year although we did put up our lanterns and other decorations. I went out for a works leaving do at a Nepalese restaurant (which seems to be a cross between Chinese and Indian cuisine, very nice it was too) and The Parents had a quiet evening in with The Sister and some Chinese food. I received my envelope of lucky chocolate money and other little gifts this morning which is a good way to start the day.

I thought I would show you a sneaky peek of the Moorland CAL, Attic 24 blanket. Only a sneaky one mind, the rest of the crocheting journey will be revealed in the next Winter Project Link Up Party post. I took the blanket to work on yesterday whilst The Parent's and I drove to Eastbourne for a spot of shopping, and discovered that I can complete one whole row in the time it takes to get there. The weather turned on us rather whilst we were popping in and out of the shops, it was brilliant sunshine when we entered the large shopping centre and pouring with rain when we came out the other side! We manfully carried on for a little longer before giving up and racing to the car to find somewhere to have some lunch.

Dad has a favourite picnicking spot in Eastbourne, a little car park right on the seafront a little way away from the town centre so you can look back across the bay and see the pier and parades of seafront shops. Amazingly we outran the rain and was then in a fantastic spot to watch a weather front creep over the cliffs towards us whilst we eked out the last of the sunshine whilst munching on our sandwiches.

We came to this spot for a picnic in April last year too. Funnily enough the weather was pretty much the same then; blustery and cold with spots of rain and sunshine. It's perhaps nicer that way as there aren't many people there to spoil the view and you are guaranteed a parking space!

I really like these breakwater posts, I wonder if I could do another seaside themed stitchscape and have some of these marching in from the side?

I also found some beach treasure to bring home as a momento! Something else to add to my collection of beach finds which I think we all gather in some way, filling our homes with interesting stones, shells, glass and driftwoods. All part of our fascination of the sea.

Farewell 2016

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2017! Let's hope it is a fantastic year for you all and brings many good things. I have something of a tradition which I think many bloggers do, which is to go back to the start of the previous year and just review everything that happened. Blogs are a bit like scrapbooks or memory albums, to be re-read further down the line. I certainly use mine to check what I have been up to and find it interesting to see the yearly patterns that we all find ourselves doing. So, shall we leap in?

January (above):: (From Top, Let to Right) My completed Criss-Cross Blanket, A beautiful Bouquet, Rainbow Crochet Case, Made With Metal ATC, Snow!, Egg Cup Penguins, Ziggy, My completed Granny Square Blanket, Embellished With Metal Postcard.

February:: Crazy Quilt Blocks, Newspaper & Buttons Postcard, My Completed Log Cabin Blanket, Valentines Day Wreath, Chinese New Year Cakes, Pampass Grass Silhouettes, Planning the Log Cabin, Snowdrop, Ziggy Sleeping on Wool.

March:: Stylecraft Crochet Squares, Bluebells, Bumble Bee Rescue, Easter Tree, My Completed Rainbow Granny Square Blanket, Sunrise, Wooden Letters, Ziggy Asleep in the Wool Basket, Rainbow Granny Squares.

April:: Lighting Beacons for The Queen's 90th Birthday, Scotney Castle, Crochet Table Runner, Bluebells, My Little Friend Kit, Travels Hamsters at Scotney, Crochet Circles, Budding Tree, Granny Square Baby Blanket.

May:: Travel Friends, EPP Pouches, Summer Felt Wreath, Chailey Common Pony, A Bundle of Blankets, Travel Penguins, Felt Flowers, Ziggy, Geometric Blanket.

June:: Travel Hamsters at Spa Valley Railway, The Colosseum in Rome, Mini English Paper Piecing, Parakeet, Standing on the Meridian Line, Fountain in Rome, The Trevi Fountain, Paper Piecing, Travel Pillow Cover.

July:: Cactus Embroidery, Lily at Kew Gardens, Paper Pieced Bags, Beautiful Sunlit Roses, Nitrogen Ice Cream, Blue Hydrangea, Birthday Sunset on Ashdown Forest, Paper Pieced Bags, Original Stitchscape.

August:: Yarn Bombing in Oxford, Lavender Fields Stitchscape, Donkey at Basildon Park, Sunset Silhouette Stitchscape, Carnival Creatues, Seaside Stitchscape, Mountains Stitchscape, Zebra Finch at Blenheim Palace, Mounted Stitchscapes.

September:: Wheat Fields Stitchscape, Walking in Little Barugh, Apple Picking, Crochet Stone Paperweight, Sunset Stitchscape, Elvis at Pickering Castle, Peacock at Nunnington Hall, Sunset, GirlGuides Carnival Float.

October:: Coffee in the Garden, Halloween Pumpkin, Spooky Flower Bouquet, White Cliffs Stitchscape, Geometric Blanket, Silver Birch Stitchscape, Flowers in Southover Grange Gardens, Misty Mountains Stitchscape, Autumn Leaves.

November:: Flora & Angus, Sunburst Stitchscape, Yarn Bowl, Penguin Place, Supermoon, Framed Stitchscapes, Field of Flowers Stitchscape, Apple & Pumpkin Muffins, Fireworks.

December:: Elf on The Shelf- Flora & Angus Annoying Ziggy, Snow White Panto, Advent Candle, Supermoon Stitchscape, Granny Stripe Blanket Beginnings, Beach Huts Stitchscape, Christmas Present Making, Icy Fennel Pods, My Completed Geometric Blanket.

Of course, you yourselves can also go back and re-read posts if there is something here that catches your eye. Can you believe that this is my 7th year of blogging? All of my previous posts can be found listed on the right hand side of my blog in the drop downs, and if there is a particular type of post or subject you are interested in then you can select from the category section. I am looking forwards to what 2017 will bring!!