Wishful Wednesday

I'm late with my W for Wednesday post, it's 11pm and I want to get something out before midnight. I am having a weird sleeping cycle week this week...I keep getting sleepy around 7pm whilst reading or just being cosy on the couch and find myself taking forty winks which is really interrupting my normal sleep cycle. Come on January be gone with you and your dark, cold days! I guess I shouldn't be too harsh, you did shine with blue skies after a rainy start today.

So here's to some serious wishful thinking. I have become a real admirer of Daniel Heath's work and thought you might like to see some it too?

His beautiful wall papers

Will they ever adorn my walls one day?

What can I possibly say about these antique wall mirrors?

Oh, and textiles too...

Yes please and thank you very much Mr. Heath

Ahhh, sometimes it's just nice to be a little wishful don't you think?

All images from here

Go have a look, it might just make you wishful too x

Little things

In the early 1980's my Sister got a Printers tray for one of her birthdays. I think they became a popular thing to have then, maybe a little trend to collect teeny tiny things in the blocks of a wooden printers tray. Hers was new as far as I can remember, they were made specifically for this new trend and I have vague recollections of what she put into those wooden blocks back then.

Well, to say that I had some birthday gift envy is probably an understatement, although I would never have admitted it at the time, I was truly envious of this treasure trove of little things. A place to put them all and admire them from a distance on a wall somewhere. As time went by I don't know what happened to her printers tray and must ask her about it someday, I don't think she has it any more, which is sad given the fact that you go through phases in your life where you think you might not have any use for something from your early teen years but now, as we get older and dare I say it a little more sentimental, something like a printers tray might take on a different meaning.

Sometimes, life just boils down to the little things.

I guess you've guessed by now that I have just bought my first ever Printers tray. I bought it from a Vintage and Second hand shop in my town called Sweetpeas and Doris and I adore it to say the least. It's the smaller of the two seen in the first photo and the best bit for me is that it comes with a history from a Printers in the late 1800's in Eastbourne that printed Art Nouveau posters. The printer box seen above is also for sale and it houses the original art nouveau printing blocks. It's too beautiful for words and I do hope this goes to a special home one day. Unfortunately, at £120.00 its a luxury I have to do without.

I did spend a while touching and admiring it somewhat, dreaming of a bygone time and thinking how special it would be to have an original of one of their poster prints. 

My printers tray will slowly but surely grow as the years go by, filled with the little things and memories of my life. I hope I don't get tempted to fill it up too quickly, each block will have something significant added to it, something to reflect on in years to come.

Are you a collector oflittle things? or do you prefer more clean cut minimal detail living?

I hope to share some of my little things when my collection starts hopefully sometime soon

xox

Penelope

4/52

Have you had a good week despite some disruption of snow and the freeeeeezzzzzing air? (or for those of you down South, hot air?)

My week has been filled with these little critters, the papa, mama and baby bear crochet faces I made while playing with my Rowan fine tweed yarn. Alice did me the honour of drawing on their faces with felt tip and obviously decided they needed to be sleeping bears, something this little family of 3 know and love to do!

They are rather sweet don't you think? Simple dc crochet circles around pebbles found on our beech. As for the ears.... well these are just freestyle and turned out quite cute. I think they look like quite a contented bear family and not grizzly and growling this January of 2013. This pleases me somewhat!

Simply watching £1 daffodils opening as the snow melts away this week. Nothing can compare, especially with having no real sunshine this week.

Next up was being asked to embellish my friend Helen's hat with a crochet flower or two to go with her felted fingerless gloves I made for her (here) this Christmas

Rubbish photo taken in gloomy light before Christmas!

I always feel very humbled at people asking me to make a little something for them and I was only too pleased to hook up some quick roses and leaves for her hat which she happened to have lurking in a cupboard and which just happened to be very similar to my felted charity shop Accesorize scarf I up-cycled into gloves for her!

And last,but of course not least, treating myself to some coconut shell heart shaped buttons and teeny tiny 2mm dpns for teeny tiny things to come. I photographed these on some vibrant turquoise crochet that will need to remain a little secret till I swap with my lovely swap partner for Ada from Vintage Sheet Addict blog's swap.

I love this Swedish yarn called Millamia it's so beautiful to work with and I'm excited about this swap which I will no doubt be blogging about in the near future. Oh and if you like the idea of a swapsie why not pop over to Lisa's lovely blog BoBo Bun here and add your name to her list before 27/1/13.

Right, that's me for this 4th week of January. I need to make my tartan embellishment for the Burns night haggis dooo we have been invited to tomorrow (my first time I'll be trying vegetarian haggis, hope its yummy). Its rather funny that I have never been to a Burns night before, despite my maiden name being Burns. Funny that!

Have a marvellous weekend wherever you are and whatever you're doing and see you soon.

xox

Penelope