Winter solace

Winter solstice sunrise was a foggy one but the day after was clear and glorious.

I sat on a rock and watched the sun creeping up over the hill ready to cast it's golden rays on a sleepy, frosty Hebden Bridge.

Such beauty and solace in nature.

Happy Christmas everyone x

Foggy finds

After being indoors at the exhibition for four days I hadn't had much light or fresh air so yesterday we HAD to have a walk.

There was plenty of air but not a lot of light. A fog had come down and we climbed the hill into it.

But it made the silhouettes crisper

and the depth of field deeper

and because we couldn't see far was saw closer. 

LOOK what we found.

A perfect birds nest made from moss, sheep wool, tiny twigs and blue thread. It was exquisite and made my day.

And as we climbed back down the hill dusk was falling. Our little town was ablaze with lights twinkling behind the trees. 

It was magic.

Hebden Bridge was aglow. 

Dean was reminded of a little film he'd heard about called The Hedgehog In The Fog and we watched it when we got home. If you've never seen it before you must because it's the sweetest thing. Ten minutes of foggy gorgeousness.

Hannah Nunn at Country Living Fair

I just got back from exhibiting at Country Living Christmas Fair in Harrogate. 

 I took my lamps, wallpapers, fabrics and my new golden yellow  daisy meadow chair.

I enjoyed having some wintry foliage on my stand made by the lovely Sarah from Simply by Arrangement. 

Decorating my sign with the springs of fir and eucalyptus and all sorts of other bits that chose for me was my favourite bit of set up!

 Everyone who stood in front of my stand was bathed in the golden glow of my lamps and it was so nice to meet so many lovely people.

 I was behind the counter bathing in the glow of so many compliments about my work!

 I heard so many stories from customers about how they are enjoying my lamps. One lady said her 94 year old mother has one. She just sits in her chair all day but always asks to have the lamp switched on so she can enjoy it. Some people collect them and have bought over the internet but never in person. It was great to meet them.

Many people recognised my work from the Country Living article and said they read it word for word and were very inspired. I can't ask for more than that.

This show had the perfect audience for me and being among them for four days has really inspired me, reaffirming that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. That I am shining my light in the world and that people are feeling its glow. I feel very lucky. 

Thanks to everyone who came and said hello and said all those nice things to me and giggled like joyful children while we wrapped up their lamps. It's been lovely. I can't do the show next year but I hope to be back the year after!

Above the misty valley

Hebden Bridge was shrouded in a thick fog this morning and it was hard to imagine we would see the sun today. 

But it did burst through late morning giving us one of those crispy blue sky days. 

The sun doesn't touch the deep valley bottom for long in the winter so if you want to see the sun you have to climb.

 I set off in a big coat, hat and scarf but by the time I reached the top it had all come off and it was so lovely to sit on a rock and feel the winter sun on my face.

It's was different world up there.

Country Living Christmas Fair

After twelve years of being in business I should know how busy November can be but it still takes me by surprise. The clocks change and suddenly people are seeking out the cosy glow, sometimes for themselves and sometimes to pass on to their loved ones at Christmas.

This year is made busier because I'm exhibiting at the Country Living Christmas Fair next week. It's in Harrogate at the International Centre on the 1st - 4th December. I'll be there with my lamps, candle covers (like this new mistletoe one), wallpapers, fabrics and hopefully my new printed canvas bags if they arrive in time (keeping everything crossed!). We'll be on stand C76. More info on their website.

I hope to see some familiar faces :)

Daisy Meadow fabric has arrived

There has been excitement in the studio this week as my latest Daisy Meadow fabric arrived. 

It's been made even more exciting because I had this BIG cutting table/fabric storage unit made for the studio. Until now cutting fabric has been hard to find the space for. Now it's much much easier. I feel a little more ready to be selling and sending out fabric.

It's made it much easier for us to cut wallpaper samples too. Anyway, back to the new fabric.

First the lovely warm golden yellow. All the daisies, stitchworts, grasses and shepherds purse look lovely on the fine woven texture.

It's sunny and warm and I am really looking forward to getting my next chair upholstered in this fabric! You can order a sample here.

And here is the sage green. It matches the sage wallpaper well.

 It's still fun to see my name on the selvedge.

You can find a sample here.  

And here is the moonrise. 

Is it grey? Is it blue? It's hard to say really. It's just really lovely.

 It's almost a bit like denim. Find a sample here. 

It's all now on my website at £55 per metre.

I'm really looking forward to seeing who makes what!

By the mountains and the big big sea...

We wanted to go on holiday...somewhere new that neither of us had been to before.

We wanted golden sands and mountain in the distance.

We wanted sparkling waves to swim in.

We wanted nature to soak in.

And we wanted to get on one of those chuggy turquoise trains that we had seen in New Street station bound for Wales.

Dean googled something like 'mountains, sea, wales, holiday,' lol and discovered Barmouth.

What a little gem of a place. It's on the coast in the Snowdonia National Park. It has huge sandy beach with grassy dunes overlooked by Cadair Idris and the Rhinog mountains.

It's on a beautiful estuary and has the quaintest wooden bridge a mile long which crosses it.

 And that little chuggy train we fancied would be going all the way there.

We found the cutest place to stay, just up the coast in a place called Llanaber. A tiny shepherds hut made for two. Two spoons, two mugs, two plates, two chairs...

Somehow, despite being teeny tiny Llwyndu Farm Hut has a huge bed, a beautiful little wooden kitchen with a hob and a belfast sink, table and chairs and a shower and toilet. 

But the best thing was the view right out across the bay.

We were treated to picture book sunsets

which turned our faces golden,

to pink skies

that lit up the hills on the Llyn Peninsular,

 to the full moon setting over the bay in the early morning AND one morning whilst sitting in bed having a cuppa we saw two dolphins swimming across the bay. Pure magic.

We hired bikes and cycled the Mawddach trail.

Miles and miles of estuary and misty hills.

We loved cycling over the bridge to get there.

We took the Ffestiniog steam train and thought of Ivor The Engine.

'Give us a little toot of your whistle Ivor!'

It had beautiful old wooden carriages and it sounded so wonderful as it filled the valley with it's clickety clacking.

There she goes...

We walked in the woods.

We said hello to Welsh snails.

We climbed big hills

and took in vast views.

And we just hung out by the bay watching the comings and goings.

It was kind of hard to access the beach near the Farm Hut because of the railway track so we often had it all to ourselves.

I had some moments with that big old setting sun.

I can still feel the warmth of it on my face and feel the freshness of that sea air deep in my lungs. 

We had so much fun together in this magical place. I think we found somewhere we will visit again and again.