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

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

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

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

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

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