Hi..my name is Gail and I love to write, paint and make things...especially my little handstitched mice!

Monday 18 May 2020

La Vie en Rose...



Firstly, to let everyone know, I am also
sharing these posts on my older blog, 
rosebudlane.blogspot.com, for a while! I have
a lot of readers on this blog, and I
would like to be sure they don't miss
out on my posts and updates.

In addition to cross stitch I also love
doing freehand/traditional embroidery, and
would love to do a book featuring this, too,
at some stage.

Attached is a little stitched piece, done in
freehand stitches and also with a little watercolour
embellishment. La Vie en Rose... a lovely
concept and one we should all embrace - seeing the
beauty and potential in our lives, and in
every day we have on this earth!

Blessings and light..
Gail xxx


Saturday 16 May 2020

Miss Bobbin's Needle!


I have started work on the little journal/newsletter I
mentioned in the previous post - this one for summer,
and completely handwritten/illustrated by me!
It will take a little time, but hopefully
it should be ready to send out in late June.

I am also revisiting my old mice friends, 
in particular Miss Bobbin, a stitching mouse
who is never seen without a needle
and thread in her hand. I am working on an idea
of a book featuring her and her little 
stitched creations, to be tentatively called
"Miss Bobbin's Needle,
Stitches and Stories from Rosebud Lane".

Obviously this will also take some time
to put together, but I will post
images of the designs and other ideas
as I develop them! I love the mice
and would love to do another publication
featuring them. (My first book about the mice
was published in France in 2018 and is still available
on Amazon!)

So many things to do and create - I am
grateful for this in my life, and the peace and joy
making things brings to me 
and hopefully to all of us at this rather
difficult time.

Blessings to all this weekend
And so it is...on we go...

Gail xxx


Wednesday 13 May 2020

Surprise!!!


Yes, after a long silence I am back - mainly to share with anyone who is still patiently keeping up with this blog, that I am still around, and still creating! I have a new blog: myenchantedcottage.blogspot.com, and am also on Facebook with a page called Enchanted Cottage.

Although I am not currently stitching the little mice (it's very difficult to get the wool felt and other things I need at the moment) - I do hope to start again some time soon. But in the meantime I am working on artworks and stitcheries featuring the mice - see the picture below! And I am hoping to do more little books sharing their stories, too.

Please do have a look at the new blog - and one day soon I hope to be on Instagram as well - when I can improve my photographic skills!

Blessings to all in this difficult and stressful time, and lots of squeaks from the mice!!

Gail xxx


Sunday 10 May 2020

Cottage comfort...


Now, more than ever, I think many of us
are appreciating our homes, wherever and whatever
they may be - they represent comfort,
safety and simple pleasures at a time when
all sometimes seems strange and disconnected!

I certainly am finding that spending more
quiet time in my little cottage is helping me
to feel grounded and peaceful, in 
spite of the challenges of the day! 
And it is certainly fuelling my creativity -
I have been thinking of a little illustrated
newsletter, with recipes, thoughts and
ideas for a simple, comfortable and beautiful
home - to be called 'Cottage Comfort.'

This is something I will be working on soon, along
with my other ongoing projects!

I have been fortunate enough to have many homes
in my life - some nicer than others, of course.
But I have always had a safe place to land, to
sleep, to be...which is a luxury not afforded
to everyone. Some years ago I met a young homeless
refugee on the streets on the city where I lived
at the time - his only dream was to get his papers in
order so he could get work and find a little place to live -
even just a room, as he put it, where he could close
the door, be safe and warm, and drink a cup of tea!
Sadly he died of an pre-existing health condition
before his dream came true! But I have never
forgotten him, and the insight he gave me
into how blessed I actually was, and am.

The picture below is of a cottage I stayed in
for a while, a few years ago - it was on a farm, looking
out upon trees and down to the river - not far from
a field where the wild horses grazed. I can never return
there, the farm is sold now - but it lives
forever in my heart, as do the lives and loves
I found there.

Blessings and light...
Gail xxx

Tuesday 5 May 2020

The heartmade life...


Meraki: this is a Greek expression,
which means to give oneself totally to whatever
one is doing or being: in other words,
to do, live and be with absolute creativity,
joy and passion, with an open, whole heart.

This, in my humble opinion, is what living a 
heartmade life really means. And it is something
we can choose, every single day. Right in 
the present moment, whoever we are
and whatever out current circumstances.

Obviously some people think that happiness
is dependent on having ideal circumstances,
money, work, a great family and so on! However,
I have come to believe it's exactly in difficult 
times, when we have problems, trauma and
stress, that we need to shift our focus away from
the current issues, towards making our lives
more full of heart, joy, trust and creativity. 
Not always, easy, as I know too well,
but that's when we can truly step into a heartmade
way of being.

I am currently putting together the proposal,sample
copy and artwork for a little illustrated
book about living a heartmade life - it will be
a journal too, with space for people to write 
their own thoughts and ideas. 
I am really excited to be doing this, and
hope to find a publisher for it in due course.
If not, maybe I will publish it myself,
as I have done with other little books I have created.
Watch this space!

Blessings and light...
Gail xxx


Wednesday 29 April 2020

Miss Cupcake!

Some of you may know that for a number of years
I created a range of small, completely handstitched mice,
which I called 'The Mice of Rosebud Lane'.

I don't make them any more - they took
a long time to make and rising costs of the materials and postage
meant I had to charge more for them than the market
would allow.

However I still love those little rodents of mine, 
so now I create them on paper and 
with stitches - in artwork, designs and, hopefully,
one day in books, too!

Miss Cupcake is the first cross stitch design
in this series - sadly I have not yet been able
to frame her as I wished, since my
picture framer is not operating due to lockdown.
But here she is - with her delicious cakes...
and the chart of this design will be ready for
download in just a few days.

Enjoy my little mice!
Blessings and light

Gail xxx


And with tea...


'Would you like an adventure now,
or shall we have our tea first?'
Peter Pan

Of course teatime is not complete with something
delicious to go along with the
steaming cups of tea! And if, like me,
you are particularly fond of Earl Grey tea, 
with its delicate orange blossom notes,
you are sure to love this recipe 
for tea cake!

(If you don't like sultanas (golden raisins)
feel free to substitute ordinary raisins or leave them out!)

Have a beautiful day!

Blessings and light
Gail xxx