And The Winner IS ...

Lady Sophia, who was one of the very first mice to come to Briesberry and Bret, who came to Briesberry and promptly fell in love with her, decided to pick this one...

They used the cat teapot, which scared them at first until they realised the cats were just painted on...

All the names were written on little labels which were then folded up and placed in

 the cup... ( they made a mess at this point)

Then the names were placed in the teapot, which had a good shake...

Bret poured out the labels...

And Lady Sophia choose the winner....

JO FROM GIRAFFE CRAFTS ...

Congratulations!

Please let me know which Bunny or Mouse you would like to win and I'll get them all sent off to you!

Oooo... A BIG, BIG THANK YOU for all your entries...

The mice, bunnies and I loved reading all your comments and it has given us a big boost for 2010.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!

Christmas Giveaway!!

Oooo, I'm all excited and feeling in a very festive mood!! December is not only the month of christmas but the month of my birthday too! So I decided to do my First Ever Blog Giveaway! The prize is one Festive Bunny or Mouse (Large or small) of your choice ... from my Store http://www.natsnest.folksy.com/ also a set of 4 Mouse Themed Xmas Cards! Which can be seen at my other store http://www.natnat.folksy.com/ ! Phew! These cute little santa bunnies with detatchable beards are up for grabs!

Entering is easy...

TO ENTER:

1. Follow my blog and leave a comment on the wall! (1 entry)

2. If you are on twitter and tweet about my Giveaway you recieve a bonus entry (please post the twitter link on the wall) !

A maximum of 2 entries per person!

Sorry but this Giveaway is only open to those living in the UK. I'll do another giveaway next year for everyone, promise!

The Winner will be announced on the 19th December 2009 ! The bunny or mouse and christmas cards will also be sent out on the 19th to arrive in time for xmas! Let me know which Festive Bunny or Mouse you would like to Win!

Included in the Giveaway: Santa Bunnys, Reindeer Bunny and Mousies, Holly Bunny, Angel Bunny and Mouse, and Mini Angels, Mini Twin Bunnies, Mini Bellringer Bunny.

A Very Festive Post!

This is my last post before Cambridge Handmade Craft Fair tomorrow! Eek! I think everything is organised now though and next time it will be easier as I'll know more what I'm doing!

 The Reindeers have arrived! Originally I planned to make eight reindeers, (Dascher, Dancer,Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donna and Blitzen) But due to time constraints I only managed to make four. So Dascher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen are coming along to Cambridge Handmade with me tomorrow. I made them little detatchable reindeer antler headbands and gave them a little gold bell each! Also coming along are many bunny and mousie angels and some Father Xmas bunnies.

As I live so close to Nottingham I also decided to make these little mice as a tribute to one very famous resident...

I'm so nervous! Fingers crossed everything goes well.

Okay, I'll sign off now but I'll leave you with this picture of a beautiful batik I bought at a car boot fair this summer for a bargin £2.00 (When I get a studio it will take pride of place on one of the walls)

Cambridge Handmade! (So much to do, So little time!)

As you may already know, on the 5th December I'm going to be exhibiting at Handmade Cambridge craft fair. Its my first ever craft fair, so to say I'm nervous is a bit of an understatement! I've been busy sewing christmas mice, and have designed some new cards to go with them....

The nice thing is, if no - one buys the cards I can give them all out to my family and friends for Christmas as I'm sure they will appreciate them ( good old family and friends : ) As I work part time too, I've only really got two days to finish making stuff (eek!) My plan is to have some little mice and bunnies with detatchable reindeer ears ...

So, the other nice thing is that I will get to meet some other sellers and hopefully get some Christmas present shopping done too! So everyone, please come along and say hello! Here is my shopping list are some of the other lovely things that will be on sale  .....

This gorgous little purse is by 'The Print Tree' who make fantastic purses, brooches and earrings. I love colour and they use just the most fastastic printed fabrics for their creations.

'See the World' - Letterpress Notecards by 'Bread of Many'. Another of my loves is illustration and these are just perfect.

Bunny Solar Lantern by 'Glowbox' . Bunnies? In lantern form? No batteries required?! How could I resist! And made by a fellow folksy seller too.

Awww, what a cutie! This little robbin by Claire Hurd Design would make a perfect tree decoration, I feel.

There are many, many other lovely artists, craftspeople and designers exhibiting! Should be a date for your diary :)

In other exciting news, I recently purchased some knitting needles as I wanted to make some animals from this book.

I love Donna Wilson and have a soft spot for her quirky knitted creatures! If you haven't heard of her, please check out her website. She also makes lovely cushions and rugs...I want it all! But can't afford it, so I'm going to make my own...I'll keep you updated to how its going!

Fancy Tea Swap!

Laura of She Draws on Folksy decided to do a fancy tea bag swap! I was very excited about this as I have many, many tea bags in the cuboard! (Actually my tea bags have been breeding and taking over the cuboards and annoying my housemates!) So a perfect swap for me actually...

Isn't this necklace stunning? Its from She Draws Folksy Store . My swap partner was Debbie of Dinky Daisy who has a lovely store on Folksy, with cute embroidered purses, coasters and pictures. So today I opened the mail and was very excited to find this little package...

Ooo, two little mini Green & Black chocolate bars, Lady Grey, Nettle and Lemon & Ginger tea and this beautiful purse! Its absolutely wonderfully made and so, so cute! I completely recommend Dinky Daisy for gift ideas. I am debating whether to give the purse to one of my tea loving friends for christmas or keep it myself. (probably I will keep it myself, I love it!) And I am drinking the Lady Grey tea while writing this, its very nice, slightly more sweeter than Earl Grey. Thank you Debbie for a lovely surprise in the mail!

Here is what I posted, a little card of the Teacup /Tigar Embroidery from my store...

Hmm, time to put the kettle on again, I think!

Beautiful Song Lyrics

Somehow I managed to download this song by Brett Dennen and I didn't realise I had it. As I was walking to work it came on my ipod (well my sony music walkman mp3 thing - i have no idea what they are ment to be called so its an ipod to me : ) and the words were so good, although they did make me cry! Not such a good look for work.

The other day I was having a discussion with my brother about music being a form of poetry ... and I'm sure this song qualifies as beautiful poetry... Its called 'When I'm Gone' by Brett Dennen. Please have a listen, its absolutely beauiful, for anyone who has lost someone very dear to them.





''the first time my heart collided with yours

I know I felt the ocean tickle the Earth's sandy shores

but changes come and we all know that we can't, we can't stop them

but I hold these memories and I will never drop them''
 

''oh the thought of death has yet to make me afraid

'cause I will march right off this world into the next like its a grand parade

but if you feel lonely just like you want to run and hide

then I'll wrap my wings around you and give you strength and I wont leave your side''

Vincent goes to the U.S.A!!

This week the other mice have been very jealous as Vincent was bought by a lady from the U.S! He happily scampered into his parcel with his cheese and is now slightly nervous about the journey across the ocean. The other mice have been asking lots of questions about what the U.S.A is like. I couldn't really answer them properly as I've only ever been to New York, which was amazing! I told them I went in Febuary and it was so cold it snowed and we made snow angels in Central Park. I remember falling in love with Kandinsky too when I saw his work in the Guggenheim. I just wanted to touch all the paintings, they are so hypnotic (of course I wouldn't though) but I did recieve some funny looks from security!

Wassily Kandinsky, Yellow, Red and Blue

Apparently Kandinsky had synestesia, a condiction where you percieve sound / numbers / letters as colour. His paintings combine colour, sound, touch and smell. In the Guggenheim there were some beautiful ones where he has made paintings from coloured sand. There is nothing like seeing art in real life, it is a completely different experience to seeing it in a book or on the screen.

So anyway, Vincent is off, ...and we had a new arrival ... Wol Sock Bunny from Wiget & Friends on

Folksy! I was very excited when I opened the mail the other morning and recieved him.

I love this little bunny with Owls on his belly! He has been making friends with all the bunnies here and eating all the carrots from the fridge! Please visit http://www.folksy.com/shops/thewarren get your very own bunny too!

I've Been Featured!! Again!!

I've been selected as a featured seller on the cambridge handmade blog!

This is because in December I'm going to do the Cambridge handmade Craft fair, which will be held at Cambridge Guildhall on the 5th Dec between 11am -5pm.

Actually this will be my first craft fair and I'm terrified! Hmm ,hopefully I'll have enough stock to display, I've been sewing mice and rabbits like crazy and hoping to make up xmas cards and things (embroideries probably!) too. If you would like to read a little more about me and the other sellers please follow this link http://handmadecambridge.blogspot.com/

Roger the pirate mouse has his picture on the handmade Cambridge blog and is being very smug about it. Captain Jack is not very impressed because he says as he is the Captain he should have been pictured. Sorry Jack, okay I'll put you up here....

He is a bit happier now! Find both of them on Folksy here www.folksy.com/shops/natsnest

I thought you might like to see Amber and Ash, two little mice that are being very naughty and distracting me from making by playing about on the sewing machine (They are being quite cute about it so I can't be too angry) In the background you can see the general chaos of my workspace : )

I've Been Featured!!

Hello! I was so excited the other day to find I had won a feature spot and advertising space on Haptree's Blog! Which you can view here - www.haptreeandme.blogspot.com .

This is very exciting, each month Haptree will feature a different artist / craftsperson on her blog...all you have to do is leave a comment after the featured article and you will be in with a chance of winning next months ad space.

So, with all this excitment I thought it was about time I turned this in to a proper blog, (where I actually write about stuff) as apose to a blog where I randomly post pictures of my work then ring my friends and say...'oh have you seen this on my blog...what do you think?'

I think my main reason for using the blog in this way in the past is because I'm absolutely rubish with technology and I'm not very good at spelling so it was just too complicated to write stuff (and I was too lazy :)

So hopefully I can post lots of lovely stuff that inspires me and it may inspire you too! So thank you to Haptree! Check out her Folksy store here - http://www.folksy.com/shops/haptree .I've got my eye on these gorgous bead kit purses, my little sister would love this as a christmas present ... (who am I kidding, so
would I! )

I Love This...

Last night while panic sewing mice for xmas I discovered this artist and I absolutely love it I had to share



see more of her work at www.juliapott.com

Charity Store Finds!!

Oh, I love charity stores! After recieving my first wage I decided to have a rummage around some of my local ones, and as well as finding a pink and purple leaf print dress originally form Warehouse, I found some amazing books at bargin prices.

'Rainforest' by Thomas Marent for £1.25! Which is literally full of stunning brightly coloured images of rainforest plants & wildlife ...

And a book full of film shots from 'Memoirs of a Geshia' and concept drawings for £5.

I love beautiful costume and sets which take you away from reality and the ones in this film are capable of transporing you to another world...
Earlier this week I was feeling very uninspired so these should help!

I absolutely love books with interesting illustrations too and found a hardback 'Dragon Rider' by Cornelia Funke which looks very pretty (yes, its a childrens book but they are so much more imaginative and inventive than adult fiction sometimes!!) And 'Anansi Boys' By Neil Gaiman just because I'm beginning to love Neil Gaiman.

Anyone who is into fantasy should try The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. I read it a few weeks ago and could not put it down. The plot centres around Anton, a member of the Night Watch who operate in Moscow.

The Night Watch are 'others' with extraordinary powers, capable of entering the twilight, a shadowy world which exists in parallel to our own. The Night Watch are esentially good, protecting humanity from 'others' of questionable moral (think vampires/ dark wizards and you're nearly there) . The Day Watch exist as their rivals, 'bad' dark wizards and witches. Although nothing is black and white in this book as it shows many, many shades of grey and has so many clever plot twists. The three parts of this book have plot twists at the end which frustratingly I couldn't work out at all! Apparently there are another two sequals to this book so I'm off to hunt them down...

Momiji Couture Contest

Momiji Couture Contest! Here is my lovely doll...she needs a name!

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