my little gingerbread cookie

yay! we did have a white christmas! it was still white from the last snowfall then more snowflakes as we were driving away from my mothers house on christmas day after dinner. i took my cat cissy outside to see the snow. i thought she might enjoy it having once been a stray (she has bad eyesight hence her leash) but her tail all went bushy and she trembled so i took her back indoors to warm up. she must be feeling this chilly weather as she taken to keeping cozy by snuggling up under the duvet with me every night!

note her perfect little heart shaped ginger patch on her back. just like a gingerbread cookie!

more snow is forcast here soon. i hope you are all enjoying the holidays.

im dreaming of a white christmas..........

yay! i am so happy - we have snow! i hope it stays a bit longer and we might have a white christmas in glasgow. some very special snowy photos from the group. thanks to each and every one of you that have shared the hyggelig this year. these amazing images belong to:madchen, nadia bolshakova, amanda blake art, mirjan.

three more sleeps and it will be christmas! i wish all my blog (and flickr) friends a very merry and cozy christmas!

+ dont forget you can still leave comments to win my giveaway here!)

+ if you are in glasgow you must visit the fabby pop up shop here!

a hyggelig giveaway!

i am busy making lots of hyggelig polar bears. some will go in my wee shop, some are going to be sold in the truly amazing glasgow shop welcome home and some are going to the goodd pop up shop held here until christmas eve.

i am also making an extra special one to giveaway on this blog!

to win all you need to do is tell me what you love about winter and how you will be keeping cozy this season! just comment on this post by the end of december and i will pick a name out a (wooly) hat!

reasons to love winter

it is so dark early these days here in scotland, but i guess that comes hand in hand with winter. winter challenges us to find cheery things to make up for the lack of light. i think winter is a time for resting, getting cozy, traditions and dreaming. not always possible in this modern age. however i do love winter for many reasons, here are just a few:

~snow and snowmen (i hope we are lucky enough to get some here soon)
~starbucks gingerbread latte
~cozy blankets and quilts
~sledging and ice skating
~keeping warm by a fire
~twinkly lights
~gingerbread houses
~candle light and winter sents
~scarfs, hats and gloves
~nice wintery music
~beautiful winter photographs

tomorrow i shall be asking you what you love about winter and in return you can win my first blog givaway!

polar bears

how beautiful is this christmas card made by my bff viv? thank you so much viv sweetie for this amazing wool. i love it! i have just added the first of a few hyggelig polar bears to my wee shop.

tis the season to be joly!

have you noticed it has gotten all festive over at the hyggelig happy flickr group lately? here are just a few of the delightful images that capture the spirit of crimbo so beautifully! many thanks to the owners: nostalgic fairy, kyrie mead, stephanie levy, schorlemadchhen, ramonah, knitting iris, dottie angel, sweet sweet life and erleperle.eu. iwill be posting lots more festive fun photos right up until christmas day so keep on adding them to the group!

tra lala laaa lala....

anyone who knows me well will tell you i am not a big fan of crimbo music at all (bah humbug) except i do make one exception at this time of the year for sufjan stevens singalong songs for christmas. this year sufjan is letting people dress him and his tree up for the festive season! hours of fun! traa lala la laaa....

happy when creating interview: emily chappell

apart from being a dear sweet friend of mine emily chappell is also a very talented illustrator. she is ultra busy at the moment with many projects including taking part in the prints charming exhibition at welcome home and selling her limited edition crimbo cards at glasgow's other wonderful newish shop goodd.

emily has also been actively trying to change the face of some of glasgow's duller shops, hairdressers and cafes starting with one of my local charity shops marys meals in duke st. when they started selling retro and vintage clothing emily decided on a visit one day that an injection of colour and humour was much needed. i spent a couple of sunday's sitting in with her while she waved her magic paint brush and pens to create a super fabby (and cannot be missed) murel! you can see the finished result here.

the 3 top photos above show some of her amazing recent design commissions for gig posters.

i asked her a few questions to let you know a wee bit about herself and her illustration.

emily why do you create?

i am an only child who grew up in bland-ville next to beige village. i learned from a young age that you do really have to shape/re build your life. i get a kick every time i realise a vision on paper.

what do you create?

i create drawings and paintings that have dream-like qualities. they are both truthful and other-worldly.

where do you create?

either out and about waiting to meet friends or in my tiny (tree-house like) attic room.

what materials do you like to use?

pencils, felt tips, gauche, inks, spray paints, dirty hands and (i have to admit) spit when i'm out drawing and have no water.

what are your first creative memories?

making pasta shape faces on paper plates, and before that, tipping up washing powder boxes to make powder mountains.

art school or self taught?

i went to the glasgow school of art but have to admit that my work did not flourish until i left and shook off all that self doubt.

what inspires you?

spoken and musical truths, comedy, the seasons, my friends, drink, exhaustion.

who inspires you?

a few illustrators: luke best, luke ramsey, maxwell holyoke-hirsch, ralph steadman, quentin blake, i also appreciate artists/musicians who cross boundaries: nick cave, daman albarn, bjork, vivian westwood.

what projects are you working on at the moment?

i'm preparing drawing for a solo show at the tron glasgow early next year. the theme will be: he sleeps with the fishes. using drawing to connect with the environment. thoughts of community and togetherness conjured up through waking dreams.

what would you like to be doing in the future?

have a fleet of interesting commissions behind me, then teach, then retire to a seaside retreat with a piano and a coffee maker to fuel my senile moments!

thank you emily, good luck with all your future projects including (possibly) a wee collaboration with me one day!

happy monday!

i am very happy to tell you that my wee doggy crimbo cards and grizzly bears are now available in the new super dooper fabby glasgow shop welcome home!

this weekend i went to see the sharmanka kinetic theatre at trongate 103 and took this wee video of some of the carved figures and pieces of old scrap performing incredible choreography to haunting music and synchronised light.

michael ciancio

an american artist michael ciancio decided this after a one year stay in europe, then made this limited edition screen print which you can buy here. i found it via this lovely blog.

my friend emily told me about some smashing christmas cards, wrap and baubles she saw here. (dont forget my crimbo cards are still for sale tho!) she also told me this very exciting news about one of my very favorite places - helsinki.

shelf

i bought romeo and juliet from shelf one of my fave london shops a couple of years ago. it's nice to hear that they now sell online too.

winterfest

twinkly lights and fairground fun at winterfest glasgow just a few minutes walk from my home.

a big thank you to veronique christensen for making me smile when i saw this!

open for business!

yay! my teeny tiny shop is now open! i will be adding more items during the week.

i hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! i had a nice but very chilly time at the dennistoun craft fair yesterday. if any of the organisers are reading this some heating would nice next time!

many thanks to emily for being super helpful and puting up with a freezing butt all day! (and hello to the lovely danish family that stopped by)

hyggelig happy socks

bbrrr it's getting cold around here so cozy socks are vital at the moment, however i can't understand why my sock drawer never has any matching ones in it, just odd old ones with holes!

lots of fabby socks have been added to the flickr group lately. many many thanks to everyone who has shared photos with us.

the owners of these socks and photos are: pickles.no, handmade liset, osloann, sweet sweet life and litchi7

community spirit and crimbo cards

i am preparing myself for a busy weekend. you will find me at this local craft fair on saturday spreading the hyggelig with my little selection of crimbo cards (limited edition gocco prints with felted wool) wristwarmers, neckwarmers, hyggelig bears, felted pebbles and lots more besides. i like the idea of taking part in something local as i have lived in this part of town for many years now, so really feel part of the community. i will also be taking along my new sweet mini moo cards - i love moo! on sunday i shall be getting ready to open my new wee shop! i am super excited that i am going to be part of the etsy community of handmade sellers too!

many thanks to my lovely assistants orla and cissy (above) who tried (but sadly failed) to help me print, stick and take photos this week, and to biba who kindly just kept out the way.