Wordless Wednesday - Our Beautiful Summer Vacation

xo

Comfort and Joy

Happy Holidays to you! May it be cozy and bright however you spend the season!

xo

Tiny Christmas

I have declared this year to be the year of the "Tiny Christmas". The big box of fa la la la la has not come up from the basement, only one small strand of twinkle lights has festooned the living room window, and we have cut way back on the present madness as well.

As you can see we even have a tiny tree. We are to be spending the holiday with family elsewhere and we are all very excited for that, but 'round here we are having a Tiny Christmas, just to feel a little jolly and bright on these dark, cold and wet days of winter.

Though today is the official day, we had a little early celebration of my birthday this weekend. A small party of just us three. I will tell you right now that The Engineer is one good man! Not only did he cook me a most delicious dinner, the man baked me a cake! A really, really, amazingly fantastic cake!

I am one lucky lady.

This has been a crazy old year, full of highs and lows and all sorts of in between. I am feeling a bit more of the effects of getting older these days. I am enjoying some of those effects more than others I can tell you. As I look back, I feel tremendously blessed and I look forward to a shiny new year and the adventures it holds in store.

Thank you all for joining me here and sharing this last year with me, I am truly grateful.

My wish is for all of us to have a happy, healthy and inspired new year!

Sweet Tooth

For a good portion of the month of November I was dreadful sick. Everything went by the wayside and now I don't know if I'll ever catch up, but I'm trying.

I am now aghast that we are already into the meat of December. The weather cold and wet, the skies dark and brooding. Seems like the perfect environment to get a little crafty. Yet, I find myself in a crafty slump. It looks as though I am over compensating for this slump by cooking up a storm and baking treats.

Even my girl and the Engineer are getting in on the action in the kitchen.

Dig her chef's hat!

How about you? Have you crossed everything off of your holiday making list? What do you do in a slump?

Lola Nova Shop Opening!

Hooray Hurrah! After a long hiatus I am so pleased to announce that My Lola Nova Etsy Shop is open!

I have received some fresh copies of my book Simple Sewing with Lola Nova by Alexandra Smith and a limited number of signed copies are now available in my shop.

I'm thinking they would make lovely gifts!

Please stop by the shop, as I will be adding a few other hand crafted items here and there.

Lola Nova = 100% Pure Handmade Goodness!

Lola Unplugged

Hello there!

Goodness me, where does the time go? I'm having a twinge of vertigo whilst looking at the calendar and realizing it is well past half of July! We finally got the go ahead on Summer with the weather turning golden on the 4th. Since then we have been well and truly Summering. So, I have "unplugged" and busied myself with the great outdoors and some wonderful times with my girl (& The Engineer when he is home from work) during the school break. I have even been so caught up in the doing and living that my camera keeps getting left behind and all I have to show are a few quick snaps from my phone!

There has been a bit of feasting from the garden...

There have been picnics in the park...

A good amount of monkeying around on playgrounds...

A quick pickle here and there...

As well as a not quite so quick bit of pickling...

There have been some super cool experiments...

Magic Ice Orbs created by putting a few drops of food coloring into a balloon, then fill the balloon with some water, tie off and freeze over night. Remove balloon and voila! Super cool!

There was a grand day at the river...

A bit of girly fun...

And a heavenly batch of home made, hand churned blackberry ice cream!

There was also a rousing family water balloon fight in the back yard and I was the winner! Well, if by winning you mean the the one who most resembled a drowned rat. And no, I haven't any photos of that.

So, forgive me if my posts are spotty, my replies and communications iffy for the next little while. This being "unplugged" is just too much fun!

I do hope that wherever you are, no matter the weather, that you too are having a bit of fun!

January 1, 2012

From all of us at the little green cottage, we wish you a truly spectacular and very happy new year!

xo

Giving and Receiving Handmade

Hello Lovelies! I do so hope that you enjoyed, and are enjoying your holidays. It has been quite sweet here at the little green cottage, if a tad busy and messy. There has been a glut of good food, a windfall of friends and family, and an all around feeling of being very fortunate. I offer one caveat; it may be some time before I am up for baking cookies again.

It was a very handmade holiday 'round here, though I did very little of the hand making myself, wait... I take that back, the food was all hand made; the treats, the dinners, the bread, etc. and my hands were definitely involved in the making. Except for the traditional Christmas Morning Belgium Waffles which were all The Engineer (thank you again darlin', perfect as usual!)

Because I didn't have time to make much for the holiday, I purchased some handmade goodness to give. I thought I should share a little of the goodness with you.

This gorgeous hand crafted ceramic horse ornament came from Christine's shop Shepherds Grove Studio. She was a joy to buy from and I couldn't be happier with the ornament. Pony Girl was pretty thrilled too!

Photo by Claire Moxon

A stunning bracelet made by Claire from Scotia Spinner. Claire spins amazing yarn and beautiful fibre creations, and she makes wonderful jewelry. Claire is one of the first blog friends I met when Lola Nova started out. Please check out her great shop! I was very tempted to keep this for myself, but I did give it to my sister in the end.

On the receiving end of things - there were hand made earrings from my beautiful sister, handcrafted beeswax candles from the divine Crystal, art from my dear friend Tricia and more!

I did want to show a very special gift that was made for Pony Girl by Aunt Lydia.

This amazing paper doll kit made from fabric! Dolls and outfits, a quilted panel with pockets to keep the clothes in and all in a quilted carrying tote! The pictures don't do it justice. The amount of work and love that went into this is amazing, I am completely in awe! Thank you so very much Aunt Lydia, you are a doll!

Lastly, I did manage to make one gift for the Engineer. He is a big fan of Waylon Jennings so I made him some wall art.

Here is a link to the original album cover I used for inspiration. My version is totally wonky, but my heart was in it.

Well, that's enough of my rambling on for today. All I can say is, I love handmade!

Winter Wish

Dear friends,
Thank you for another wonderful year. Thank you for coming to visit my shiny place and sharing with me. I am a lucky Lola!

I wish you a lovely holiday filled with joy and and happiness.

Be well

see you soon!

Lola

xo

A little festive

We are playing with paper and little lights,

working on 3 page letters to Santa,

and making important decisions.

What are you up to?

DIY Friday - Holiday

I have been visiting some happy places out in blogland looking for some holiday inspiration. There are some gorgeous goings on let me tell you! I have decided to share some of what I found. Whether they be tutorials or inspiration for your own Do It Yourself holiday, there is certain to be something that will spark your imagination.

This beautiful wreath from the ever inspiring Rachel from Smile and Wave! She has the how to HERE. I am also over the moon for her holiday diorama!

My friend Vic from Punky's Mamma gives the basics of how she made this very cool tree decal for her home. I love her sweet Advent Calendar too!

And garlands! Always room for more garlands!

A classic felted garland tutorial can be found HERE.

This beautiful and inspired Dixie Cup garland how-to can be found HERE!

I adore these little winter jars. I found them at The Tortoise and the Hare. You can find them HERE!

and for a whole mess of lovely ornaments, we can always count on Martha!

Well, I have been inspired, how about you. Do you have a holiday DIY that I should know about? I've got some ideas floating around, now if I can only find the time!

Oh, and be sure to check out Dottie Angel's 12 Days of Joyfulness!

Not a Sparkle in Sight

Unless you count my button jars.

I have been seeing some serious sparkle and festive goings on out there in blogland. Alas, the festooning and bedecking has not come to the little green cottage yet. The main room, the place that gets dressed up for all occasions, is decidedly bare of holiday cheer. However, it is full up with the tools and trimmings of the "studio". My making space from the deep dark basement has moved camp into our living room for the last few months whilst I toil away on the giant project that must not be spoken of; not just yet anyway.

I was looking with a bit of envy at those of you who seem to have it all together when it comes to embracing the Fa la la la la of decorating for the festive season. I on the other hand, have made a banana cake. Oh it's quite good I assure you, but hardly sparkle worthy.

So, I need some inspiration, at the very least I need to move a lot of stuff out of the living room so I can gaze upon the empty canvas so to speak, and hope for an Aha! moment where it all comes together.

In the spirit of this search for my sparkle, I think I might go a-looking for inspiration out in blogland and share what I find for a wee DIY Friday!

So, how about you? Are you bedecked and sparkling, or are you still imagining your masterpiece?


P.S. I got so many comments on the fabric from my last post, I thought I would tell you what it is. It is a gorgeous voile from the Heirloom collection by Joel Dewberry for Free Spirit. The color is "Amber" I believe. I picked it up earlier this year, but I have seen it still available online if you do a search.