Hogmanay Pixie Peg

This is my Hogmanay Pixie Peg. She is pictured in the snow in our back garden. I hope the new year is magical and brings you your hearts desire.

Mums Felt Flower Garland and The Little House In The Big Woods

Its been a busy few days and keeping our wood-fired heating going in this cold weather has been a fulltime occupation. It is very satisfying though, knowing we are not part of a system relying on multinational companies for our heating and hot water. The constant glow of a real fire is friendly and far more welcoming than a gas fire or boiler could ever be.
Today I dropped off the felt flower garland to Mum and Robyn finally finished her Gingerbread house. Its a log cabin based on the type Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in as a child. We have read all of the little house books as a family and love them. We have called the gingerbread house 'The Little House In The Big Woods'.
As today is the winter Solstice.....may I send you bright Solstice blessings......brighter days are on their way.

Holly Wreath

Today I finished a holly wreath I'd been working on. It is a mix of dark green and variegated holly leaves threaded on to a wire. The holly is an impressively tough plant and I used secateurs to cut the leaves from the branches. This also helped minimise prickles. there are plenty out of control bushes around Wylam that have benefited from a little pruning. I left the branches with berries on for the birds. I am pleased with the look of this wreath. I made it for my friend Joy, who kindly payed me for it. I am thrilled she is pixie peg crafts first paying customer. Thank you Joy!

December Wreaths

Ive been busy on several projects this week. I bought some lovely ribbon from the craft shop in Blaydon to adorn the new wreaths. As Christmas is almost here, I thought it was safe to put berries on them. The first one is for my friend Claire and the second one is for my Mum and Dad. Hope to churn out a few more.

Winter Star Wreath

I added some winter star flowers to the Beech wreath I made last week, as an experiment to see how long the flowers will last. They are plentiful at the moment.

Solstice Star

In preparation for the Winter Solstice celebrations, I have made this star with a wire candle holder. It is based on a design from the December issue of Country Living Magazine. The star itself is willow bound with twine.

A Wreath For George Stephensons Cottage

Having collected some lovely wreath making materials near the birthplace of world famous railway pioneer George Stephenson, I thought it would be nice to make a wreath for the cottage. It is owned by the national trust. The 18th century cottage is furnished as it would have been in 1781, when George Stephenson was born there. It is the smallest national trust property in Northumberland and is open to visitors March 'till November. The cottage is occupied all year round and is situated on the country park footpath, that was once a railway line, on the banks of the River Tyne.

Kindly, Joy, the lady who lives and works there, said she would put my wreath on the front door of the cottage. Sure enough it was there this morning when I walked up there with the dog. It looks a little rustic, but this probably suits the style of the cottage.

Honesty Butterfly

My Little girl Robyn has enjoyed making these pretty butterflies from Honesty seed pods. They are plentiful at the moment. We made the anntenae from a birch twig.

Beech Wreath

On a walk with the dog this morning we came across a very old beech tree down by the river, quite near George Stephensons cottage. It is certainly over two hundred years old. There were lots of mast cases still on the branches, so I helped myself to a few and made this simple wreath. Some of the cases fell off as I was making it, but enough remain to make it look quite sweet.

Collected lots of other bits and bobs, including some nice holly.

Rosehip Hearts

Here is one of the rosehip hearts I made this evening. The hips are from my mum and dads garden. They are larger than those found on wild roses and look lovely threaded on to wire longways. I love them.

Advent Calendar

This year I decided to make my own advent calendar. No tacky choclate and plastic calendars for us this year. Im hoping to reuse the envelopes next year so i've not sealed them down. Each one holds a cute or funny photo of the children and /or our family pets, taken in the year 2009. I may try to add a joke each day as well.

Dogwood Hearts

Thought I would try using the beautiful red stems of dogwood for some simple heart shapes. It bends easily and has produced some nice results. If kept out of direct sunlight, the wood will retain its colour.

Birch Snowflake Wreath.

Made this Birch snowflake wreath today. The River is very high , following heavy rain during the night and over the last few days. The willow I've been cutting has completely disappeared under water.

Christmas Pixie Pegs

Here are the Christmas Pixie Pegs. There skirts are fuller than usual so they will fit easily on the Christmas tree.

More Wreaths

Here are a couple of new wreaths, the Hazel wreath has some beautiful green catkins. The willow butterfly was a bit of fun and will look nice on the shed.

The tree branches I have choosen to work with, as well as being beautiful have their own significance and meaning.

Birch symbolises new beginnings and cleansing of the past.

Hazel signifies hidden wisdom and has traditionally been used for dousing.

Willow represents magic, healing and dreams.

This is a subject that I intend to research further .

Large Birch Heart Wreath

Made this wreath this afternoon. It needs two people, one to hold the branches in place, the other to tie the twine. I'm learning some new tying and knotting techniques.
Here are the bargain battery operated LED snowflakes I bought today being modelled by Rowan.

Robin Wreaths

This week I have been making some simple wreaths from Birch and Hazel twigs. I have added the Robins and gingham ribbon with Christmas in mind. Birch is lovely to work with and bends into shape easily. Hazel is slightly harder to shape but has a lovely rustic quality. They have been lots of fun to make.

I have also made some lovely willow hearts. I have mostly used the willow we are growing in our allotment.