Nineteen-Seventy-Seven Cornfield

My Dad has been scanning all his old slides and revealing pictures that we have not seen for many many years. I love these so much.

Happy holidays with my Mum and Dad visiting family in Suffolk, wearing my handmade dresses, exploring the countryside and walking through the cornfields. I remember it. It was such a hugely different landscape from home in Leeds. 

I remember looking at all the snails in the hedgerows and picking flowers. Maybe this is where my love of the small details of nature began. 

Aw look at my Mum and Dad when they young. What a lovely pair.

Bigger and brighter

So these last couple of weeks while I have been enjoying my new studio little Radiance has been in renovation chaos while it moves into the space that my studio left behind.. As Alison from Heart Gallery put so well when I saw her in the street the other day 'It always looks worse before it looks better'.  Yes it's been very upside down indeed.

But now it's coming together. Clare has made a fabulous new counter and some new shelves where the old counter used to be. Emma has worked her magic with the paint roller and Sean has been doing the wiring. 

Here they all are being busy.

Emma has funny shoes!

Here's the original sketch. That's me welcoming the customers.

I'm looking forward to being open again and working in the bigger and brighter Radiance. Hopefully we'll open on Saturday but we'll have to see how tomorrow goes...

Frost

First walk in weeks this morning. I have missed the woods.

So many ice crystals to marvel at today.

New Studio. I'm happy!

I've been counting my blessings this morning. My new studio is a prayer answered and a wish come true. 

I have my big light filled windows,

separate areas for designing and making,

lots of drawers for all my laser cutting.

ample storage,

room for lots of plants

and good good friends just down the hall.

I love it and I am VERY grateful!

Now that I am settled in here, work has started on the new look Radiance. Clare Scott is in there as we speak building a fab new counter, Emma's coming back with her paintbrushes at the end of the week and Sean is coming to do some re-wiring. Well be closed for a week to ten days...however long it takes, but we will still be processing online orders each day so don't let that stop you! ;)

Now back to work. Module Three of The Surface Pattern course has started AND I have a big sample order of lamps make for a lighting company in JAPAN! :)

It's all exciting stuff.

Delighting in The Simple Things (magazine...I'm in it!)

 I've been looking forward to sharing this for a while. I am soooo happy to be a contributor in issue 5 of The Simple Things magazine which is out in the shops right now. This magazine celebrates 'the things that matter most'....life's simple pleasures. It's warm. It's cosy. It is full of beautiful photographs and the first time I read it I WISHD I could be in it. 

I LOVE it when wishes come true. 

The magazine commissioned me to write a piece about light and to design a little 'how to' project for their readers. 

I enjoyed writing every word.

 and Sarah Mason enjoyed taking all the gorgeous photos for the project.

I thought a Snowdrop would be a good flower for January.

Holding it up to the light! This photo is our favourite.

I don't normally stitch my lamps together but it made it possible for someone to make one without them having to use all my custom made poppers and clips you see.

We've been very excited about seeing the finished results...

...about opening the magazine and seeing it all laid out.

We knew they would do a beautiful job.

It's true!

The magazine always prints somebody's wallpaper on the inside front and back covers. I was very happy when they asked if they could print mine! Better get cracking and get some in production!

So if you'd like to have a go at making a Snowdrop candle cover of your own get out and grab a copy of this beautiful magazine...better still treat yourself to a subscription (making sure it includes issue 5 of course) because there is always something lovely in there.

Thankyou Simple Things x

Happy Old Year, Happy New Year

(the most ponderous photo I could find)

I love this time of year, lots of sofa time, time to think and dream and reflect. I've just been looking back to 2012 and have been struck by it's awesomeness! The year kicked off with Hello Soul Hello Business ecourse and now in hindsight I can see how it has influenced so much of my life and business in the year that has followed. 

In January Sarah Mason came to take my portrait for  my book. We hit it off immediately and discovered a shared love of walking in the woods and taking photos, amongst many other things.

We have trodden many miles since and dreamed and planned many things together.

In February we moved to our new house above the shop. We're enjoying living here.

In March I went on an adventure to the Summer Isles with Rachel Hazell to make Ffion a book for her 18th.

In April my lovely girl became eighteen!

I designed some new bird lamps.

HSHB also inspired me to take The Art & Business of Surface Pattern Design and I discovered a love of making patterns. Much MORE of that in 2013!

In May I had the biggest adventure of all. 

JAPAN. 

When I came back I really began to fall in love with writing and blogging about my trip helped me to re-live and reflect on the adventure. Seeds were planted to try and get my lamps into Japan (exciting news to follow on that one).

In June Hebden Bridge flooded twice and turned our little town upside down but we came together as a community and all sorts of projects were born to make a difference. No more rain like that this year please.

In July I took my lamps to Tatton Park which was a great show for me.

In the August Robert and Ffion made my new website. It was a real 'coming together' of many things and a beautiful collaboration between the two of them and a chance to discover how well me and Sarah worked together too.

A couple of books that I bought in Japan inspired the photoshoot with Sarah which inspired the design for my new website. 

In September we had the Hebden Spirit auction and raised £6,500 to market Hebden Bridge after the floods. Amazing night it was.

 And Ffion flew the nest :(

One of the questions during the 'dreaming' phase of  'Hello Soul Hello Business' was something like 'If money was no object what would you do in your business right now?' I remember without hesitation I wrote down that I wanted a large studio with big windows and lots of plants...somewhere to spread my wings, somewhere private to call my own. In October I found one. I move in next week (with my new plants that I bought with my birthday money) :)

In November MY BOOK CAME OUT! After a year of waiting it finally arrived and we had a gorgeous launch. Such a celebration.

And Hebden celebrated the shops re-opening after the flood with a party. Valley of Lights was the best.

Me and Sarah worked on a very exciting collaboration when I was commissioned by The Simple Things magazine to write a piece for issue 5 (more about that in my next blogpost). This magazine was a lovely discovery. They did a great book review for Illuminate too.

In December many things. We had the busiest Christmas ever at Radiance and on the HN website.  It was brilliant but exhausting so this Christmas break has been very welcome. And in the middle of the break I had a big birthday. FORTY. It was the best day and I'm still all loved up.

There is so much to look back on and celebrate. What an amazing year! 2013 feels full of promise with many things to look forward to already.

I wish you a Happy New Year. I hope it brings everything you could wish for. xxx