A White December

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

A whole two seasons later means my blog news update is well overdue to say the least.
I last wrote during the summertime as we were settling into our new home, reunited as a family of four. We explored the local area and made the most of all the sunny days living close to the sea.  
The cooler days came along and quite quickly turned into white winter ones, with early snowfalls in November and temperatures way below zero into the double digits.
Jemma had to return to South Korea by the end of August and I do miss her so much. We got used having her around for many months enjoying her company. 
Amber is just 25 minutes away by car which is nice.  She has been immersed in studying, working and socialising, so we have had an empty nest again - which is how it should be when you have raised two independent daughters who are quite capable of living their own lives.
My Etsy shop kept me busy throughout August, September and October with continued orders for wedding cake topper birds regularly coming in. I introduced mobiles back into my shop and started taking care of two primary school children for a few hours a week, giving some structure to my days.

 Cloud and bird mobile - Custom made for a nursery or playroom

Although my new home does not give me the inspiration that our old Victorian farm house did with its quirky character, I always look out for DIY projects and ideas to work on when I get a break from sewing. 
I had been looking out for a large old picture frame for some time, checking in thrift stores and the sale ads in the local newspaper but couldn't find one large enough for what I had  in mind.  I wanted to make a statement chalk board for my kitchen and had seen a few on Pinterest.  One suggestion was to use door trim to construct a frame, which I decided was a good alternative to try.  

First I bought two lengths of door trim from the local hardware store and a large enough piece of lightweight backing board measuring 50" by 25".  Craig used a manual saw to cut the door trim for me, using a saw frame to get all cuts at a perfect 90 degree angle to form the frame, which was then glued to the  board and clamped together to dry.  The board had been painted prior to this with chalkboard paint in black found at the local craft store, it went on easily and needed three coats for a nice smooth finish. 
I am pleased with the end result and it cost under $20 in total!

Now all I need is for Jemma to come home and write a fancy menu for me in her perfect handwriting to make a simple but effective piece of art in my kitchen. In the meantime I shall have some fun scribbling on it! 

 This week we have Amber home for the holidays, which is lovely.  I get to stock the pantry again with plenty of delicious food, decorate the Christmas tree, sip a little red wine, dabble in some baking and smile sweetly as she tries her very hardest to convince me that we really do need a small dog in our lives!!  This would, apparently make her want to come home so much more often.
Let's just say, I am still very much on the fence on that subject.