Good morning all!

Anyone has got some interesting New Year's resololutions? Please share!

My New Year's Resoloution: reply to letters more promptly. I mean within one year of receiving:)

Ha!

Mix - mash

It is scary! I am posting regularly! Actually it was Diane - crewe who made me keep going. I was beginning to doubt if this blogging makes sense! Oh, yes it does!

Today I am posting a mixture of photos and info from the last few days.

First of all, girls have just turned 6! And even though they don't live with us any more we do get to see them.  We organised a little party for them, just a quiet, family one. £5 seems like a lot of money when you're six!

Pretty butterfly cake:)

So much love there:)

New bag design: something for girlie girls. We all love hearts so here is another project with applique flowers.

More traditional one: pretty birds and some leaves. I am obsessed about pretty buttons and use them in most of my projects.

And that A LOT OF food for New Year's Eve:

And the three of them ate most of it!

The stunning beauty of blackwork.

First of all, Happy New Year to you all. Hope it's packed with love, peace and exciting events!

Now back to work! Shop re-opens tomorrow and we have now in stock pretty little blackwork kits. I am absolutely addicted to it! It's something I picked up at Phoenix Fair in Rugby last September. And right away I was taken by it's simple beauty.

So here are few pieces I have done so far and I am planning to do more!

This is little piece called Acorns, it's absolutely delightful to work with, the golden thread adds extra special something to it. And the browns make it slightly different. I really loved it. And of course I JUST HAD TO combine it with my passion for patchwork:) Then decided to add a bit of lace and some buttons. I am pretty proud about it!

Little owl. Easy but stunning! And yet again, I created some patchwork background to it by using scraps of my favourite fabrics. Little cross-stitch on the edges of the aida fabric made it look very sweet. Love it!

Small piece called "Pinks" which is actually embroidery. It was the most difficult piece I have done but the effort was worth it in the end. This little work was sent to my sister Kasia for her birthday and she loved it.

Little close up on the work. Pretty isn't it?

New Year... Lots of thanks...

Wow! What a year we had! First six months were spent still on cloud NR 9 as we have been married only 18 months. Than we decided that so called recession can't get any worse and this is when we are gonna open the shop! So 7th Heaven has opened on 20th October and it's been going on great.

I have regular classes for my card making plus I got pushed to actually put all my ideas on paper. So there was A LOT of sewing, card making, tried crochet, lace has been postponed:(, and most of all catching up with friends and family.

I am so grateful for my family and friends, though most of them are miles away we are still very close.

And thanks to technology  (Facebook, blogger etc.) I can really be a part of their lives.

So a BIG thank you to: Denise Jackson, Magda Kowalska, Emma Russell, Louise Hall, Debbie Pepper, Monika Bartczak, Anthony Morgan, Danielle Powell and all the rest of you my lovely friends for just being there for me!

Mustn't forget Wendy and Dave, Teresa and Alan, Sue and Allan, Kasia and her lot, Aga and Ania, auntie Ela, Sara and David, MUM of course and best in- laws ever! You guys are amazing.

And to Robert for being my rock and a shoulder to cry on:) Love you madly.

And to all my newly discovered friends thanks to Blogger: wish you a truly amazing 2012, hope it's filled with joy and sunshine. God bless. x x

Ola

Back to quilting

Second post today, wow! Well, Christmas is over. I was in Cardiff at my best friend's and it was amazing. There was a lot of chatting, cooking, laughter, walking, singing and perhaps too much wine:) But life is short and we should enjoy it and take every day as if it was the last day of our life.

While it's been so busy at the shop I had no chance to post some photos of my Christmas sewing!

 First of all a Somerset Christmas star I made last year at my patchwork club at Franklin's. Emma is such amazing teacher and she doesn't get upset when we add our own twist on her projects. In here I have added little green corners to make it square and normal biding. Acts as a tea pot mat!

Table runner made entirely out of 5" squares. So easy and so effective. In fact few of them have been sent out as Christmas presents last year!

This year's creation: mug-rugs. In the centre there are squares cut out of a panel with Xmas patterns. Add 2" frame and quilt normally. Easy and looks very cool.

These are matching plate mats.Take four coordinating panels and five squares (you can make it as big or as small as you need), join them together, add wadding and quilt diagonally with normal running stitch. Add biding and done!

My own design: table runner. I can never design anything on paper first. It goes out of my head, stitched together and then I add all necessary amendments.

Star applique pan mat. Use some heat'n'bond and applique it onto white fabric with zig zag stitch, add  two 2" strips on each side and done!

This is last year's creation. Beautiful Virginia star mat. It's big enough to act as a Christmas cake mat. It was the most difficult project for me at that time. And when I finished and realised all lines match I was pretty proud!

Emotional

25.12.1972

Happy Wedding Anniversary Mum and Dad!

Well, it would have been if Dad was alive. That would make it 39 years of marriage. Wow... But I never know what to say to Mum on this day. So normally just try not say a thing in case she will get upset. I do miss my family, all of them. x x x x

Best job in the whole world!

I can't believe it's been a month now. Lots of things happened. We are on air now! Salisbury's Spire Fm! Advert is superb and brought us to the public's attention! We have plenty of new products in store and workshops kicked off!!! I am so lucky, this is the best job ever. Most days I just make cards or do some patchwork. We have made some good friends who just pop in to buy stuff! 

The workshops are a good fun! Here are just few cards that we made!

This is made by Rosemary on our retro card workshop.

Pretty cards made by Katie. 

Sue loves buttons:)

And Debbie puts her own twiest on my designs, well done!

Vintage Christmas Card workshop was such a joy. It makes me really happy when someone says they have been looking forward to this and they really enjoy it! Thank you my girls for coming!

And of course, last few days were spent getting the flat ready for Christmas. We won't be going back home this year... Bit sad about it but I am sure I can make it a great Christmas yet. Teddies got some Xmas too!:)

And this is my beautiful Xmas tree:) Spent two hours getting it ready. Decorating a tree for me is like a mas:) It takes ages but at the end of it I feel good:) All has to be put in correct order and trinkets must be THE RIGHT ONES. I know, sound pretty much obsessed:) But I love every minute of it! Reminds me of home and brings back all those lovely memories.