wreath making with Floral Footsteps

A very talented friend of mine has set up her own floristry-illustration-photography business in Durham called Floral Footsteps. (Check out her website here, it's good for presents!)

For the last couple of years Floral Footsteps has run traditional wreath making sessions in Durham. I didn't make it last year but was very quick to sign up this December and this is the result:

I managed to commit myself to making two wreaths, one for my mum and one for a friend, without really knowing what I was getting myself into. Having only ever made wreaths with florist's oasis before, this was much more time consuming as you begin by making your own base of moss wired onto a metal ring. I won't describe the whole process (you'll have to go to the workshop next year) but basically at the end of three hours I hadn't finished one wreath, let alone made much headway with the second! 

I had however had lots of fun. There were mince pies and mulled juice on offer and lots of happy creative company to enjoy. And, having to finish my creations at home meant that I could add bits and bobs that I had lying around the house such as the gold and red ribbon.

I used to do a bit of floristry at home at Christmastime making advent crowns and wreaths but I haven't done it for a while so was lovely to get into it again. Thank you Robyn!

back in time for Christmas!

Hello and welcome back to Ribbon Willow! As I said in my last post I had a bit of a break as life got busy. Things were starting to calm down but then I got engaged last weekend so I think it will carry on being busy for the next little while! However, I didn't want to neglect my blog any longer and I thought I'd getting a few little Christmas-themed posts in before the 25th.

Every year my parents ask me if I'd like to make their Christmas cards for them. Sometimes they're drawings or collages, this year they were photos. I went on holiday to Morocco for a week in October (look out for photos of this in the New Year!) and having taken pictures of camels during a trek, they made for perfect Christmas cards:

And here are a couple that didn't make the final cut:

It's nice to be back. Watch out for more festive posts on wreaths and Christmas jumpers!

on a break

I'm taking a little break from Ribbon Willow. Life has got very busy at the moment and I've found that I've been unable to post blogs regularly. I've still been doing creative bits and pieces, including making a documentary video and teaching myself to felt(!) so I will be back to tell you all about what I've been up to once things have calmed down a bit and start having free evenings in again.

So goodbye for now. Thank you so much for reading and I hope to be back in a few weeks/ months x

every knitter needs one of these...

I made this a while ago, around the same time I was starting to get back into sewing and made my pin cushion. It's one of those creations that I put to use immediately after making it and so forgot to write a post about it until just recently.

Being a keen knitter I've certainly had plenty of well-meant mockery head my way over the years but knitting has clearly made a very convincing comeback in recent years. Did you know that typing 'knitting blog' into Google produces 28,600,000 results! 

I don't think I'll ever have a blog entirely devoted to knitting but I can admit to being quite a fan of it. (And I actually think it's one of my less embarrassing hobbies, I can honestly say that fantasy RPG computer games will never get a blog post!) 

And a keen knitter would be lost without a case for all her needles.

 

An Unnecessary Doorstop!

For my birthday in April I got given a book called The Crafty Minx by Kelly Doust. 

Kelly is an Australian with a knack for making handmade treasures out of recycled bits and pieces which is just up my street! I found her blog yesterday if you're interested to take a look: http://thecraftyminx.com.au/

The book has lots of ideas and patterns for things to make and I took inspiration for my latest cushion cover from it. This doorstop was first on a list of things that I have queued up to make. It's made from bits of fabric I've picked up here and there: an old pair of jeans, some old curtains, upholstery material and some fabric I inherited with my sewing machine. It's filled with the contents of a bag of rice and some extra stuffing so it's pretty solid.

The only problem with making a doorstop is that my bedroom door stays open by itself so it's not a necessary accessory and we don't need it anywhere else in the house. However, while I was on holiday with my parents a couple of weeks ago, my mum mentioned that she was in need of a new one for the lounge so happily I was able to send mine to a good home.

So not such an unnecessary doorstep after all!

a very Scottish summer

It's been a while since I've blogged so I thought I'd return with a nice summery post...

I went on holiday to the Cairngorm National Park with my family this year for a beautiful, if somewhat wet and windy, holiday. It didn't rain all the time though and we had some great days out exploring the landscape. Here are some of most Scottish shots to sum up my time away:

View looking back down the valley on the way back from Ben Macdui

Grasses on the mountainside

Out on a bike ride on the Rothiemurchus estate

Huge pipe band at the Abernethy Highland Games

Woods at Loch Morlich

Highland heather

Red squirrel making a bid for some food

Toadstools love the damp weather!

It wouldn't be a real Scottish collection without a thistle

Herd of reindeer on top of Cairn Gorm

Hay bales in the field

Hope you've enjoyed this and maybe feel inspired to visit yourself. I love it that there are so many beautiful parts of the UK that I'm yet to visit!

giant cushions are the best sort of cushion

Having got myself in a cushion-making mood following Geri's birthday, I decided to make a cover for a floor cushion I bought in Ikea a little while ago. The fabric is also all Ikea (I'm not a huge fan of the shop but I do have a weakness for the textiles department!) and because it is thick upholstery material I didn't get issues with it sliding all over the place as I have done before when using silk. So it was quick and easy to make (I think I got it all done in an afternoon), including making buttonholes and adding an appliquéd bird from one my offcuts.

This is now my favourite cushion for leaning against when I'm sitting on my bed skyping my boyfriend in London :-)

a tribute to a train enthusiast

This weekend we had a clan gathering at my grandparents house in Bedford. It was my Grandpa's birthday on the Saturday and so it was a good excuse for us all to get together and celebrate. And we had a lot of fun:

There's a prize if you can spot my younger brother Simon!

Also over weekend, I'd been asked to take some photos of the contents of Grandpa's loft...

Grandpa is a very big fan of trains, and has been his whole life. I think the beginnings of this set began to take form 70-80 years ago and there are some really beautiful engines as part of his collection.  The set takes over the entire loft space and comprises of multiple stations, tunnels and settlements, all named after his grandchildren. For example, Jennyhill Tunnel and Benchester Junction or Rhianna's Farm and Emma's wood. It was a real treat to be able to spend an hour or so capturing some of the details, and although I've posted quite a lot of photos here, it's only really a taster of the real thing. The detail is phenomenal, down to the tiny posters on station wall and the minute bus stop signs.

I have fond memories of going up into the loft as a child and playing with the trains. When I was small I could climb underneath the track and stick my head up inside a tunnel to watch Hornby trains zip by in front of my nose! And I think those memories are ones I share with all my cousins and also my Mum and her siblings as the set was already well under-way when they were growing up.

Unfortunately the train set is going to be dismantled soon, so these are some of the last pictures of it. But hopefully they fulfil their purpose to keep a record of an amazing collection and to stop our memories getting too dusty!

The all important keys to wind up the trains

my second blog

This is the blog I get paid to create!

I work in fundraising for a charity and recently we've been increasing our presence on-line with Facebook and Twitter and most recently with a blog which I'm responsible for. I've only posted twice so far but then it's only been going since Tuesday! If you're at all interested in charity work, fundraising or social issues in the north-east of England then it's worth taking a peek. I would love to know your thoughts about it too.

(recycled) birthday cushion!

It was one of my oldest and best friend's birthday at the weekend and so I really wanted to make her something special as a present. I've had several spare cushions kicking around recently so that seemed an good thing to make. And I also had a silk top that I'd bought from a charity shop years ago because I loved the fabric, but I'd never worn it. It made for a really luxurious cover though and as the top was lined I had the perfect backing material too!

I wanted to avoid having any seams in the fabric so it was a bit of a stretch to make the cover big enough. It was slightly on the small side but the bonus of that is a plumper cushion in the end! I also used the original zip from the top which was only half the length that I'd normally use but as the colour was a perfect match I hope that's not too noticeable.

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Happy Birthday Geri! I hope that you enjoy your cushion :-) x

a botanically themed photo collection

Rain-soaked rose arch walkway 

Last weekend I visited Kew Gardens in London for the first time since I was about two years old. The weather varied from glorious sunshine to thundery downpours so I took photos with plenty of light and contrast but also with the detail of raindrops settled on petals. My mum recently asked if I could make some cards for her so I'm getting these designs printed off for a botanical themed pack of home-made cards. Let me know if you'd like some too!

This is "Mandela's Gold", originally from South Africa- I love it's spiky shape!

Trumpet Vine

I took this photo before I started logging names of plants but it's very pretty!

Jade Vine

Red Lily just after the storm

Allium, also known as 'flowering onion'!

A collection of cactus roses

officially unofficial...

This is a rather belated post seeing as this wedding took place about a month ago but with video work I hadn't had the time to think about photography blogs! So...

My friends Ed and Jeanna got married last month :-) They got loads of friends involved in doing various different jobs from playing in the band to arranging the flowers which meant the whole day had a really nice feel to it as everyone chipped in to help them celebrate. The job I was asked to do was to be the unofficial photographer which suited me well.

Mr and Mrs Spencer

A simple but very beautiful cake

Flowers by Robyn at Floral Footsteps

As I've said before, I don't enjoy function photography. But this job I loved. I enjoyed the luxury of being able to take lots and lots of photos coupled with the challenge of making sure there were some fairly decent ones in there, but at the same time I didn't have to get the official shots that the bride and groom had specifically requested. So if a shot didn't turn out well, it didn't matter.

I enjoyed getting the 'behind the scenes' photos as I got to the church early so had lots of time to photograph the band, ushers and groom before the service started. Some people seemed to take their roles more seriously than others...

And then there were lots of photos of guests having a good time...

   

I love this photo of my friend Abi, she's definitely a glowing mum-to-be. It's a nice place to finish, with another type of new beginning.