The Spring Give-away DRAW & a Happy Birthday!

Hello there!

Are you excited? I have to say that I was very excited to wake up this morning and realise it was the day of the Sunny Spring Give-away Draw!! I want to say a huge thank you to all who took part, its so much fun to do this, and spread a bit of arty-crafty joy out into the world!

Anyway...without further ado - I can't possibly keep you waiting a minute longer - I will now reveal the winner of this give-away (and the winner was chosen by Random, a lovely online number generator).

The number generator gave me a number...and it was number 40!!!

...and upon counting down the list of entrants, I discovered that the winner of the goodies is....

Blooming Felt!!

WELL DONE!!! Please do get in touch dear soul with your address, either through the 'email me' bit of the blog, or by going through the 'contact me' page on my website, and I will mail your prize to you this week! Thanks again to everyone who took part, I've enjoyed this one so much that I've decided I'll probably do another one in the not too distant future, so although I'm awfully sorry for those of you who didn't win this time, you might next time!

So! Thank you for your birthday wishes - I had a splendid birthday starting early in fact, on Saturday afternoon when a smiling chap turned up at the door with these!

...Oh I was so happy! What a very, very joy~filled looking bunch of flowers of the most colourful kind - choc full of most of my favourites!

Sunday morning dawned sunny and blue, and I was treated to some lovely gifts from my other half and the Little One. A new Cath Kidston mug and stationery, two new yoga dvd's, Thornton's chocolate, perfume, a beautiful scarf in shades of tangerine, fuschia pink and purple with shimmery silver threads embroidered through, a pretty bird house and also some birthday money which I plan to spend on some new wool supplies for the RR blanket and some new clothes for Spring! I felt like a very lucky lady indeed!

After a late breakfast, we got ourselves ready and picked up the parents and then headed out into Derbyshire, to Bakewell.

It was a lovely day for a stroll by the river...

...and there were several cygnets sailing along the twinkly water with their parents. We had a picnic sitting by the river and then headed to the park to let the Little One let off some steam! After a wander around the town, we headed off in the direction of our birthday meal destination, stopping on the way for a pleasant wander around the tiny village of Baslow.

Gorgeous snowdrops carpeted the church yard...

...and this pretty catch on the gate that took you through to a path that led to the river caught my eye!

Baslow is a very quaint place, with beautiful cottages and gardens that burst at the seams with scented flowers in the summer. There is also the added attraction of a gorgeous little shop called 'Avant Garde' that sells the most stunning home wares and trinkets, including pretty Green Gate (I bought a new tea towel and some napkins while I was there, its almost impossible to leave empty handed!).

After our wander, we drove to The Ladybower Inn for our meal, it serves the most beautiful food and we were lucky to have booked a window seat where we could sit and look out at the ever changing sky as the sun went down over the Ladybower reservoir. I think the good weather had brought everyone out with the same idea in mind as the place was packed to the rafters! I'd recommend this place to anyone who is out in this part of Derbyshire for the day, it was the icing on the cake for us and later, settling down to watch Larkrise in my jammies with a big box of Thornton's was the icing on the icing of said cake!! :D

Well, that's about all for today, I have noticed that a couple of you have asked about a pattern for the little hearts I showed you last week - well, I will definately try my best to do one for you of course!

I hope you all had a good weekend, I'll look forward to catching up with you soon!

Much love

Julia x x x

The Sunny Spring Giveaway!! (and some other bits and bobs)

Hello Dear Souls!

We've been to the seaside! My goodness, it seems an awful long time since I walked on the sands and inhaled the delicious tangy scent of a salt breeze, but on Sunday we took ourselves off to the east coast of Lincolnshire and enjoyed a bracing walk on the beach - although it was bitterly cold there the sky was a radiant cobalt blue and seemed to go on forever...I love Big Skies and a sense of space like that!
The sun shone all day long however, and it was a day for discovering once again, how pretty dried seaweed can be, collections of fragile, tiny shells on the shoreline and admiring the simple beauty of sunlight on tide rippled sand.

Little Person, needless to say, enjoyed it immensley and there was much sand pie making and pitstops for games of football.


Thoroughly refreshed and reinvigorated after our bracing day out, we returned home. And the homeland is much cheerier now that there is a promise of spring on the horizon. Ah yes, the days are definately getting longer, and the other evening we had a glowing sunset as we travelled over the 'tops' to go and fetch our daughter from Nanny Mum's house. (the 'tops' are a local name for the hills that rise up between the valleys here).

The view through the farmers field there, is over Bradfield and out to the Strines Moor- beyond that you can just about make out Winn Hill in the Peak District (teeny tiny pointy bit on the horizon).
I love the old marker stones you get around our way too that serve as road signs. This one in the top right picture is showing the way to Brighthomlee, with a helpful etching of a finger in the stone to point you in the right direction!

So, Spring is absolutely and most definately in the air...and there is also something else in the air too - yes, Im sure you who visit me often enough will know by now that Im having a little giveaway! And....today is the day I can finally share the scrumptious goodies that will be on their way to one lucky soul!


The Sunny Spring Giveaway!!

This giveaway is a little celebration of the impending arrival of Spring, and also my birthday which coincides beautifully with this occasion! If you would like to enter, all you need to do is leave me a comment in the 'post a comment' section at the end of this post. That's it. It's that easy. On March the 21st, which is the Spring Equinox, I shall draw a name from the hat and post the winner's name the following day (I'd post it on the 21st but it's my birthday so Im hoping to be whisked off somewhere marvellous and nowhere near a computer!! ;-)


So, without anymore waffling, here is what you can win!

One signed, limited edition print of Moon Fishing, presented in a white mount
ready for framing.

A crocheted daffodil corsage, made by yours truly - looks quite splendidly spring like and colourful on a coat or jacket - or bag come to that!

A bag of the most delicious praline eggs - well, Easter is but a hop away and it wouldn't feel right not to include a little chocolatey goodness for you!

Four of my art print cards, of the designs shown

aaaannnnnnnd...last but not least, a lavender heart, made from pretty Erin McMorris Park Slope 'circles and stems' fabric, filled with generous spoon-fulls of garden harvested lavender, and finished with a shell, and vintage pink button.


And there we have it my friends! All that remains is for you to leave me your comments - meanwhile, Im off to finish a certain painting that I started last week - thank you for all your excellent suggestions about that, I really was in a bit of a pickle with what that dear blackbird could have come to find, but Im now happy to tell you that, inspired by Surfer Rosa's idea Im going to be adding a little cotton reel or ribbon to the scene!

I'll be back again as usual next week (if not before)!

Til' then - love to you,
J x