Homemade gifts pt. 2

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Christina

In my last post I wrote about some gifts that I made this Christmas. Now this post is about some homemade gifts I received whether it was made by the person themselves or made by someone else. I have to say I have gotten some great gifts so far and I’m not even done with Christmas yet as I have another one this weekend!

First of all, I received this owl cross-stitch from Ingrid who hosted the Yuletide swap at her blog Let Me See The Colts. I personally haven’t cross-stitched since I’ve been a kid, and this piece is inspiring. I have a ladybug/ladybird cross-stitch pattern that I won from a Shoreditch Sisters’ giveaway that’s waiting to be made…

Then I got a teacup necklace from Melanie K. I think I now have 5 necklaces made by her!

I got a Russian Doll broach from my friend Jo. She bought it on an etsy site, but I don’t know which one.

One of my colleagues’ 9 year old daughter was in our office last week as she was already on school holidays. To allievate boredom, she made these little boxes out of spare origami paper we had around the office, and put a paper crane inside, and drew the peace sign inside the box. So creative.

From Daniel, I got a little bird bowl from another etsy site!

And now that I know that Tatty Devine necklaces are handmade in London and Kent, I’ll throw this one in here as well. This is the Rabbit Sky Lab necklace I wanted! Also from Daniel:

Hope you all are having a good festive season….xoxoxo

Homemade gifts

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Christina

Providing you have the time and sometimes, the talent, I think that homemade gifts are some of the best gifts you can give or receive. The other night I had a few friends over for a dinner party and I ended up making a couple of the gifts I gave them. I’m please to say the reactions to them were all positive! When Christmas is over I may do another post on homemade gifts that I received. One gift I have already opened is some black & white film from my friend Melanie. I am supposed to take photos with it over Christmas and then she’ll teach me how to develop the film in her darkroom! So providing that turns out well, that will be another post on here.

Anyway, for this Christmas, I painted Jarvis Cocker for my friend Jo. It was my first time painting Jarvis, and I made sure to get his tiny mouth and jaw line correct. That’s really all that mattered.

Then as my friend Kim is spending Christmas in New York and I lived there for 5 years, I made her a little New York guide, featuring my favourite places that I know are still around. This was accompanied by a mix CD (remember those? I’ve started to make them again!) featuring songs about New York or from artists in New York. Kim was pretty happy with these!

And ok, this isn’t homemade, but I love the idea of using magazine or newspaper clippings as wrapping paper, especially if a certain article reminds of you someone. So I wrapped my friend Melanie’s gift with a Christmas interview with Brian Cox, because why not?

I hope you are all enjoying the festive season so far… xoxoxox

Light Painting

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Christina

Last week Daniel and I did some light painting in Devon. We used a LED light stick that he made as well as a bundle of lights taped together. It was really fun! Here are some of my results:

Autumn at Kew!

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Christina

Kew Gardens is one of the most beautiful places in London. Daniel and I are members, so for a fee, we can go as many times as we want all year! We went there this past Sunday and the autumn colours were out in full force. I also enjoyed the giant mushroom sculptures that are currently on display, and the Marianne North gallery. She created over 800 paintings in 14 years and they’re all in this one gallery. Daniel asked me if I could paint that many in 14 years. Maybe. Only if that was my day job, though!

Anyway, here are a few snapshots from the day..