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

Forty

Yesterday I had a big birthday. It was quite possibly the best one ever. All day family, friends, food, treats, and the best thought out personal presents.

Emily, my lovely sister has recently discovered a flair for cake decorating and with each birthday she has made us beautiful personalised birthday cakes.  She arrived with the family in tow and one of her big white cake boxes. What would mine be? Something lamp related maybe? 

It was my big armchair and my cats! Absolute genius! 

My Mum made me a gorgeous quilt for Christmas and all I have been doing since Christmas is sitting under it and my cats, chilling and reading and recharging my batteries so it was perfectly fitting. 

And Emily recreated my quilt in ICING! Soooo clever.

Here's my Dad and the cat boys having the quilt experience...

...and here's my Dad forty years ago with his little newborn me!

Later on the evening Robert took 'pass the parcel' to a whole new level! Little did I know that for the last two months he has been tracking down my old far away friends, most of whom he hasn't even met. With every layer of the parcel one of them would leave a message or poem and perhaps a photo from years passed. 

There were tears and belly laughs as we passed the parcel, not knowing who would pop out next. There were sweets too, just like the ones I remember from all those childhood birthday parties. It was altogether brilliant. Robert my love you are so beautifully thoughtful and have such fantastic ideas!

I like 40 already. A nice round number and the beginning of a new decade for me. Nice to be setting out into it surrounded by such a tremendous bunch of people.

I feel so very loved. 

Happy Christmas!

(I bought some Kirsty Elson house decorations for the tree)

Hooray it's Christmas and it's time for a big rest. This season has been busier than ever before (see, no blogging for weeks...how I have missed it) and me and the elves (Matt, my Dad and Bryoney) have been busying away in the studio making lots and lots of lamps for people Christmas presents. Nice to think how many there will be underneath Christmas trees all over the world right now!

This year has been awesome and I'm looking forward to putting my feet up for a couple of weeks, surrounded by friends, family and cats and dreaming about my new studio (moving in on 8th January) and all that is to come! I'll even be having a fortieth birthday in there too (bring it on, this nice round number)!

Look out for issue 5 of The Simple Things magazine, out on the 27th. I've got a lovely lovely feature in there so no doubt I will be back on the blog then to share it!

 Hope you have a wonderful, cosy, sparkly Christmas of lovliness!

Our new studio

I've been keeping this photo open on my desktop today to remind me of the wondrousness that is to come. Look how big it is (Sarah's wide angle lens does exaggerate the space but that's fine by me)! It is what's keeping me (just about) sane as we deal with the chaos that is December with a very busy shop/website and a teeny studio to make lamps and wrap lots of parcels. Honestly getting from side of the room to the other is an obstacle course!

It's coming on tremendously. Remember the carpet and the blown vinyl wallpaper? Well it's all gone gone GONE. 

 JP Renovations carried our 86 square metres of laminate floor up the stairs and laid it in three days. AND they took all the carpet away. You've got to love them for that!

And Emma stripped and steamed all the wallpaper off and and is working her magic with the roller (whilst dreaming of cycling..when she's not painting she is an awesome triathalete).

There is a sense of peace in there...and the light in the morning is golden. We can't wait to move in. New Year, new studio! :)

Winter sunrise

We've been blessed with some cold and frosty blue sky days this week and the other day we were out early enough to see the sun rise over the hill.

Such golden light.

The sun doesn't reach the bottom of the valley much at this time of year so it's nice to get up high and be in it.