On Instagram In November

Happy December! It's hard to believe that here we are at the end of the year already, this year really has wizzed by. Today I'm taking a look back at my Instagram photos from November...

I got into the festive spirit early in November when I took part in the Poppy's Place Winter Fair

Moody skies... November was a damp and blustery month

Spotted these giant pumpkins and squash on a visit to Hyde Hall, I love the bendy one at the back!

New tea favourite! This Bluebird Tea Co. Rhubarb and Custard Rooibos tea tastes every bit as good as it smells!

Turning 30,,, Cupcakes from my favourite local cake shop

The most beautiful birthday gift from some special friends- vintage 1930s bag. I absoloutely love it!

I love all things countryside and woodland and I'm collecting pieces for a woodland themed kitchen. My work colleagues surprised me for my birthday with this lovely Joules set

A lovely thoughtful gift from a good friend- I love this sentiment

A friend has recently had a baby boy so I thought that this would be the ideal opportunity to put my Fair Isle skills into practice on a larger scale, so I made him this Fair Isle beanie!

My niece is only three and a half but the Clangers are back and she's asked me to knit her Tiny Clanger, so that's my next knitting project lined up!

Despite the damp and gloom in November it was still nice to get out for walks. My favourite place to walk is along the river close to where I live

Preparing new work for craft fairs

Nelson doing his best to look innocent after waking me up before the alarm. He's been a bit poorly lately as he has a cyst in his eye, poor boy, but I'm pleased to say that he's now ben signed off by the vet, yay!

Trip to my favourite cafe with my sister and niece. My niece was fascinated by two ladies having afternoon tea and kept saying look at the pretty plates and tea pots- can I have them?!

I hope you all had a lovely November too. What did you get up to?

On Instagram in September

I'm a little bit scared at how fast this year has gone- it's absolutely flown by! Today I'm looking back at my Instagram photos from September with memories of our holiday, a lovely workshop, new craft work and of course pics of Nelson cat. I'm a real Summer person so I don't look forward to the change into the chilly seasons, although I do love Autumn food- foraging for Autumn produce and making chutneys is something I love to do- as well as the excuse to wear my boots and woolly jumpers! Wishing you all a lovely October!

Nelson is taking it extra easy at the moment because he was bitten on the leg- we assume by another cat- and the vet said he needs to stay indoors until he has recovered. So he's enjoying extra cuddles at the moment, poor boy!

I started the new Tilly And The Buttons Bettine dress pattern this month and had hoped to get it finished to wear on holiday. Alas, life got in the way and I didn't get it finished in time, so that's my challenge for October!

Autumn flowers

I ran a workshop for 24 members of the Suffolk East branch of the Embroiders Guild, which I really enjoyed. The group made felt beads, upcycled fabric flowers and needle books

Mr Writer and I went on holiday to Sicily and had such a lovely time- what a beautiful place. Above is the view from our room- really missing the sunshine and good food!

We spent time on the beautiful beach, visiting the local towns and even took an excursion to walk on Mount Etna Volcano, which was an experience I'll always remember

A picture postcard Sicilian town. Really missing these sights! You can see some more photos I took in Sicily here

I've been working on some new Fair Isle designs and this is a detail of a finished necklace- see more in this post

What did you get up to in September?

On Instagram In July

Happy August everyone! I hope you all had a lovely July. Today I'm looking back on July through my Instagram photos and I know I say this at the start of every new month, but seriously, didn't July wizz by?!

I've been keeping up my goal of walking more. I live in a small riverside town in Essex and my favourite place to walk is by the river. Mr Writer is a great bird spotter so when I walk with him it's amazing to find out how many species of bird inhabit the river

I'm not a sunbather but I do love to spend as much time outside in the summer months as I can, so I spent lots of time in the garden in July. The slide belongs to my niece, although she has told me I can use it!

Taking the opportunity to work on some knitting in the garden. Bourbons are one of my favourite biscuits and this giant one was a treat from my sister!

Sadly the weather wasn't always lovely in July, which caused a craft fair I was attending to ber rained off. We all got soaked and I had to quickly pack my work into the car. British summertime!

Nelson cat has had a lovely July spent napping and sunbathing- it's a cats life! I love how chilled out he is

Mr Writer works long hours and I'm often at work at the weekend so it's been nice this month to make more time to spend together. We have a couple of favourite cafes in our hometown and one of them does amazing milkshakes in every flavour you can imagine- these were Nutella flavour and they were so good!

I was chuffed to run a drop in needle felted beads workshop for 6 lovely ladies at The Made In Colchester Summer Fair. I was so pleased they enjoyed the workshops and I've got several more in the planning stage, I'm just confirming venues so watch this space!

There was a lovely atmosphere at The Made In Colchester Summer Fair- a good time had by all!

I made this Swarovski Crystal and freshwater pearl necklace as a gift for a friend. I find beading really therapeutic! I'm planning a range of these necklaces in different colours to release in my Etsy and Folksy Shops later this year- I'll keep you up to date on this!

I've been wearing my Fair Isle accessories lots. I love being able to wear knit even in hot weather!

Upcycled fabric and vintage button hairslide making, fueled by tea and my other favourite biscuits, chocolate digestives!

So that was July! What did you get up to in July?

 I'm looking forward to getting stuck into working on some new pieces in August, I'll be sure to share what I'm up to. If you'd like to follow me on Instagram you can find me here. I'd love to follow you too!

Find Me On Instagram!

Are you on Instagram? It's fast become my favourite of all the social media channels- it's so interactive and from a craft perspective, it's a great way to discover inspiring  makers from all over the world. My page offers a glimpse behind the scenes at Louise Dawson Design- lots of craft, cats, baking and sunshine! You can find me on Instagram here- I'd love to follow you too!

Louise Dawson Design on Instagram- July

Although it went by way too fast (where is this year disappearing to?!) July was a lovely month, mostly spent making the most of the outdoors, out walking and working in the garden. Here are a few of my Instagram photos from July! 

It's been very much a foodie month, trying out new recipes (Beef Wellington, yum!), cooking for friends, making apricot upside down cake using apricots from our tree and out for a cake treat with my sister (I can't resist a slice of cake!)

 I've been out walking locally a lot this month, making the most of the sunshine by the river

Picking plums and greengages in the garden, catching up with Mollie Makes, working in the garden and noticing the first signs that Autumn is round the corner with the Conkers in the trees

Learning Fair Isle knitting, getting stuck into a great book (The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith, aka JK Rowling, nearly finished it now and it's brilliant) and making jewellery box labels in the garden

So that was July! Happy August everyone!

Louise Dawson Design on Instagram

I love using Instagram to capture snapshots of day to day life and here are a selection of recent photos of things I've been up to lately. Follow me on Instagram here!

Seafood lunch at The Company Shed and walking on Mersea Island

A week off spent by the sea with friends, in the garden and enjoying lovely food

Capturing the Summer outdoors

Colour inspirations, shelfie, Blogging research and a very chilled out Daisy the cat!