Giveaway Time: New Hedgehog Tote Bag!

This week we introduced our new Hedgehog design to our range of cotton tote bags, and now you have the chance to nab one of these beauties for yourself! To enter the chance to win a lovely Hedgehog Cotton Tote Bag, head over to our facebook page and click the “like” button on the post about the giveaway and “like” our facebook page – the lucky winner will be announced next Monday 1^st April!

In my old house we used to have hedgehogs in the garden, but in the house I live in now we have badgers instead. There is a badger set on the edge of the garden. It sits the other side of a wooden fence in the part we leave to be wild. The ground is sloped and there is a little stream at the bottom, and during the spring bluebells bloom in the shade off the trees; I think all gardens should have a little nature patch, and ours is gradually growing stronger. When we moved in, our lovely neighbours told us about the badgers and we made a hole in the fence for them to come through and explore. It wasn’t long before they started digging little muddy holes in the lawn, but we didn’t mind that because it was lovely to hear them frolicking at night. There have been many times when I’ve been sewing into the early hours, with the patio door open for some fresh air, and I’ve heard the badgers playing in the grass.

Whilst I love the badger family and the midnight entertainment they provide, I do miss the hedgehogs; there is something undeniably adorable about them, and it was not uncommon to see one or two snuffling in the grass in the evening.  Which is why when I was drawing my Badger illustration, I was compelled to also draw a Hedgehog illustration too. I’ve added these designs to my range of tote bags, and I am working on adapting them for pocket mirrors, badges, lavender bags and zipper pouches in my etsy shop too.

Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win one of our Hedgehog totes here!

Ivy and Graves

A beautifully mysterious ivy covered workshop that joins onto the graveyard. Just oozes olde time charm.

 

 

(I would also like to state that I really don’t hang out in graveyards as much as this blog suggests. It’s just that every time I pass graveyards I seem to have a camera with me, and there just happens to be some great photo opportunities. Honestly.)

Susan Horth Jewellery and Sculptures

One of my favourite makers recently is Susan Horth, who constructs exquisite animal and insect sculptures and jewellery pieces from woven wire and bead jewels. Each piece is stunningly detailed and surprisingly life-like. They seem so precious and intricate that time can easily slip away whilst you gaze at them. I am particularly fond of the little bee and lizard brooches.

Ducks

 

Squirrel

 

Bugs

 

Last month the weather was surprisingly sunny for September. Whilst I was hanging the washing out to dry in the garden, I spotted this little guy. Since I was just about to head out on a bike adventure my camera was close to had, to I had time to take a few shots before he took off. Now the weather seems to have firmly decided that it is winter, and most of the things I photograph seem to be soggy leaves and overcast skies; I am most definitely looking forward to when it becomes cold and dry and delightfully crispy.

Bumble Bee Tote Bag

Spring almost certainly seems to her here this month, inducing some intermittent and refreshing April showers. I was sitting on my sofa last week, enjoying the pleasant sunshine streaming in through the open garden door, whilst I had a little tea break with a friend, when the biggest bumble bee I have ever seen flew through the window. My friend is terrified of bees, although she doesn’t know why, but I think there’s something wonderfully adorable about them. The bee flew around the room, landing on a few of my brightly coloured trinkets, and then went on its way leaving me with an idea for a new tote bag design for Mystic Moose.

Our conversation moved on to the sign I had see the other day on the bus into town, stating that my town was the first Bee Guardian Town. I love the phrase Bee Guardian, and I’m thinking of volunteering for the project – mostly it seems to involve caring for bees and guiding walks of bee-flourishing areas, which sounds lovely!

Having finished my new tote bag design, I have another bee-related one in the making, so keep an eye out in my etsy shop.

Teacup Totes and Ladybirds

The weather this weekend was somewhat delightful, a wonderful change to the dark clouds and patchy rain we had in the middle of last week. I had been planning a photo shoot for my Mystic Moose website all week, but even though the sun was shining, the lighting just wasn’t quite right for it – it was too bright and harsh, and by the evening it had gone a little cloudy again. So instead I took my new teacup tote bag for a walk whilst I scouted for potential locations for photos.

I made this new bag last weekend, after a rather lovely day in the garden of a cafe. Although I didn’t intend to, I spent about four hours sitting at the slightly rickety duck egg blue table with a friend, drinking cup after cup of tea. The little teashop had some delightfully quirky cups and saucers and no two were the same; having been sitting there for many hours we’d gotten through quite a few different cups! If the wonderful waitress hadn’t been popping back and forth to collect our empty cups, our table would have ended up looking very much like this tote bag! I took to doodling some of these cups, whilst sitting in the sunshine, and once I got home I began to ink and colour them in. As with my other totes, I then reversed the image heat pressed it onto the cotton, resulting in the colourful drawing being transferred!

This walk was extremely lovely, and the air had that lovely freshness that comes when people realise that spring has finally come and begin to cut grass in the hopes for some outside activities in the coming weeks.  Flowers seem to be re-emerging recently, so I spent a lot of time admiring daffodils and daisies and gathering inspiration. I also got to see some lovely dogs – lots of beautiful collies, a couple of Labradors and Staffies and an extremely friendly terrier puppy wearing a pink collar that was owned by a muscular biker-y-looking man. I had several dog walkers compliment my teacups tote bag, which is always a lovely experience, because it’s great finding out in person that people like the things you make.

I also met a lovely ladybird when I was drinking tea, who was kind enough to let me take some photographs. There were some lovely parts of the gardens, some beautiful patches of architecture and I think I found some nice stonework against which to photograph my totes – I’m still looking for the perfect banner photo for my new etsy Facebook page! Go take a peek – I’ll be posting discount codes and updates on new crafty delights!

Foxy Stamp

I found this on etsy the other day and kind of need it.

I love stamping.

And I am wondering if the amount of joy this stamp could bring me is at healthy levels?

Ducks in the Frost

A few weeks ago, when the countryside was covered in a beautiful layer of frost and the cannel had mostly frozen over, I went for a walk with my camera. I didn’t upload them at the time so these are perhaps a little out of season now since the weather has warmed up considerably in the last week!