At our happiest Outdoors

One of the things we realised looking back over the last year, was that as a family unit we tend to be at our happiest and most content when we are outside. It doesn't matter whether its at the beach, the woods, on the allotment or on the moor, it just seems to be that open space surrounded by nature suits us all. So with this in mind and the fact that the children are now at ages when they can keep walking for quite a while before the youngest says 'pick me up' we have been making a conscious effort to get outside as much as possible lately. Wrapped up warm, with a flask of hot chocolate for them and coffee for us and of course a treat of something sweet like cake we have already done quite a bit of walking this year. We are lucky enough to live on the edge of Dartmoor, which is a magical moorland that covers an incredible 954 square kilometers, so gives us plenty of space to explore! And with the first signs of Spring appearing and the prospect of warmer days to come I am really looking forward to our explorations as a family this year.

How my mind wanders..............

Oh how my mind wanders at the moment. I am having terrible trouble focusing on the tasks at hand. My mind wanders off and I lose my train of thought which often ends up with me completely forgetting what it was that I was doing in the first place! With the help from visually inspiring sites like Pinterest {which I'm sure should come with a health warning along the lines of - 'not for the easily distracted' } I have allowed my mind to indulge in thoughts of the warmer weather to come and to start planning trips and adventures, on seeing images of beautiful white tulips I have found myself drifting out of shops with a bunch in hand having completely forgotten the important necessities like milk and bread! I find myself craving for a home with white walls and lack of objects which is at least helping to spur me on to de clutter, a job that I think could take forever and all of this done with a coffee in hand. I can't imagine not drinking coffee, I enjoy the whole ritual of putting the coffee pot on. I could map my days out in coffee, and I am intrigued by images of Vietnamese coffee being made and I'm very tempted to try one of these coffee filters. Maybe a change in coffee will finally help me to focus! 

• A 1959 Chevrolet Viking short bus 
• White tulips 
• Beautiful home 
• Vietnamese coffee

January 2015

A bit like a wind up toy, I feel exhausted after a Christmas spent celebrating whilst also nursing 3 poorly children, who of course couldn't be ill all at the same time, no they feel ill one after the other until every day of the holidays was spent looking after a sick child! So I am finding January quite difficult. I can't seem to get myself going. If only someone or something could come along and wind me up! The dull days, the cold, the rain, lack of sunlight, non of it helps, it really is a case of digging deep and trudging through these first few months of the year, hanging on to the thought that Spring is just around the corner! I am not one for making New Year resolutions. I have tried in the past and in general fail. I do like however to spend the start of a new year thinking about the past 12 months. What can we learn from it, what did we do wrong, what should we change, what could have been better. But there's the thing, its often easier to think and to stress over the 'things' that went wrong, the things we shouldn't have said, the things that we didn't do, than to think about what we got right. As a parent especially I think we often worry and beat ourselves up mentally about how we are bringing up our children. We worry if we are doing it correct, are we saying the right words at the right times, are we there for our children when they really need us, do we spend enough time living in the moment, are we listening to them and each other, which is sometimes so difficult in our busy lives. I think its good to try and learn and possibly change but we do need to remember what we did right. Remember the moments of harmony, the moments when life seems perfect, the times when we all laughed together, the times when you think this is it, we are happy.
I found myself on New Years day sat on the sofa with my laptop, the kids happily watching a movie, the fire was lit, we were warm, we were full of food, a moment of calmness. I found myself going back over my Instagram account, laughing at some of the photos, smiling at others. It was good, as lets face it most of us that have Instagram accounts use them mainly to show moments of joy, of happiness, snap shots of our 'perfect' lives! So I set about making a photo book using only photos from my Instagram account to remember our best bits of 2014. And there a couple of weeks later it was. My first ever photo book. And it couldn't be any more perfect. So easy to make, I used Blurb Books and found it very straight forward to use. It's the first of many to come. It's such a lovely reminder of our year. A reminder of the good times, glimpses of the past, a great way of capturing time and giving us memories and reminding ourselves that sometimes we do get it just right!

New Baby Bandana Dribble Bibs

Say hello to my new collection of bandana style bibs. 

As soon as I saw this gorgeous flannel I knew that it would make for the softest of bibs. And this style of bib is not only perfect for a dribbling baby they are also very suited to a teething toddler!  Made with a layer of 100% cotton flannel, three of which also have the wonderful look of herringbone wool weave, and backed with a layer of organic cotton fleece these bibs are soft to the touch making them extremely comfortable to wear. And made with only cotton fabrics no polyester in sight you can be confident that you are putting only the kindest natural fabrics next to your babies delicate skin. In lovely Autumnal colours they can be found here in my shop.

Saying Goodbye is Never Easy!

I was working away the other day cutting fabric for orders when it suddenly dawned on me that the bib and burp cloth set in 'clouds in gold' that I was busy cutting out was to be the last. I had a moment of panic and quickly raided my fabric stash hoping desperately to find some more of the fabric unfortunately to no avail. I then had a quick scour of the internet trying to find some for sale, again no, which didn't surprise me, this collection is now out of print. So that is it, no more of this gorgeous organic fabric. I am annoyed at myself for my lack of planning and that I didn't buy a lot more of it. But it can be very difficult at times to judge the fabrics that will be popular and sell well. I am also annoyed as I was hoping to make myself a cushion out of it and had thought I had put some away in my private stash but some where along the lines I must have used that as well. So I feel quite sad to say that I have just one 'Storage Basket' left made from this fabric and I have managed to sneak in one lonely 'Baby Bib' out of it and that's it, no more passing clouds in gold! Thankfully a new collection is coming out this Spring which includes some more clouds in different colours so all is not lost and I still have gift sets and storage baskets available in Blue Passing Clouds in my shop. As for me I have learnt an important lesson here always buy more fabric! 

Spotted this week - Girls Autumn Wish list

Girls Autumn Wish list by acraftyhen

Long sleeve floral print dressCotton cardigan / Zara Buttoned Coat With Pockets / Zara Animal Print Backpack / CAMPER WABI, / Donna Wilson for John Lewis Squirrel Bag, 

What a day!It has not stopped raining all day, we got drenched on the morning school run and even more drenched on the afternoon school run! The warm, dry start to the Autumn has gone and we have lit our first log fire. I do love the changing seasons, and I am quite happy to start wearing a chunky knit cardigan and sit in front of a roaring fire eating pumpkin soup! The change in weather is also a good excuse to do a bit of shopping and these are the things I have spotted this week for my daughter. My love of mustard is still going strong. It is such an Autumnal colour. 
I am finding myself doing more and more of my shopping at Zara, especially bits for the kids and I am so in love with this mustard button coat and really wish they would do it in adult sizes! I would also be happy to wear the camper boots aren't they superb! Another clothing range that is becoming a staple in my daughters wardrobe is Little Bird by Jools Oliver for Mothercare. Wonderfully designed, amazing quality and at a good price you can not go wrong and I love the fact that a lot of the collection is suitable for either a boy or girl which makes handing clothes down from one sibling to another so much easier! Now lets talk hats! I found this crochet hat in a gorgeous shop on Folksy called Wild Honey Pie Boutique and I am pleased to say they do adult hats as well which makes me very happy. And the doll, a find on etsy and if you have never visited Blita I urge you to her work is stunning I am rather in love with her Raccoon, one I think to add to the Christmas wish list!

More Storage Baskets in New Designs

I just can not stop making these storage baskets. I enjoy the whole process from selecting the fabric to sewing them to seeing the finished baskets all lined up on a shelf! So its no wonder that I have made a few more! I have added another five baskets in new fabrics to my Etsy shop. The very popular Black Triangle basket is now also available in grey, also in grey is a lovely basket featuring small crosses. Then there is a mint with small white triangles and the odd glittery gold triangle, and 'Crystal Arrowhead' which is what the fabric is called and I rather like the name! There will be only a few of these two baskets available as the fabric comes from a limited addition collection and I have noticed that it has already sold out in many stores. And finally I have got round to listing a deer basket which coordinates with a bib and burp cloth set that is also in my shop. This organic fabric featuring deer in a mix of gorgeous muted colours is one of my all time favourite fabrics and I am hoping to have blankets available in this print very soon. And for those that ask me on a daily basis for larger baskets well, I am working on those at the moment so hope to get a few in my shop in the next couple of weeks! 
Right you can see all of the baskets pictured above and more here!

Happy weekend!