Busy Making, Busy Creating!

Life's been pretty hectic lately, hence the lack of blog posts! I always swear to myself I'll blog once a week at least but....anyway, rather than give up, I'll just keep trying!

In between church ministry stuff, a conference in Germany, my dad visiting, going on holidays to Donegal over Easter & moving house (as well as looking after a husband and four kids!); I've been busy making lots of dolls for friends & some orders too!

These cute little dolls were made for two little flower girls as a gift for them on their parents' wedding day. They have the girl's name & the date of the wedding embroidered on the badge.

A friend of mine requested this doll as a gift for her Welsh friend's little boy! It was a bit fiddly cutting out the dragon but it ended up turning out quite cool.

A pixie fairy!

These dolls have been quite popular, as gifts for newborn babies or birthdays. They are personalised with the child's name & sometimes the birth date.

I even got to go on the local radio station to promote my little business! Midwest Radio is a station for all the people out here in the north-west of Ireland & it was a privilege to be interviewed. It was also great to meet so many other creative people in the Bank of Ireland, Ballina, that day who were also there promoting their small businesses.

Hopefully I'll be back again soon with more creations, ideas, tutorials and my experiences of life in Ireland!

Coastal colours of the west of Ireland...

Last weekend we camped on the far west coast of Ireland on an island called Achill. It is beautiful spot, very rugged with tall jagged cliffs carving the coast interspersed with pristine beaches. The last time we were there was last winter when the wind nearly blew us off the beach! It was still beautiful but last weekend we were blessed with heavenly warm weather, no wind and had the chance to enjoy this amazing part of Ireland at its best.

One of the things I really love about Ireland is the variety of colours in the landscape, especially when the sun is shining. The grass is not just green but you can see here the yellows, rust, oranges, lime and dark greens that come through in the above picture. Stone structures like this abandoned house in Achill's deserted village, stand out even more against the stunning rich background of the grass and hills.

I truly find living in this place so inspiring to my creativity and every day I am thankful for God for bringing me here (yes, even when it rains too!). Sometimes I really wish I could paint landscapes (to be honest I've only tried a little and I don't have the patience for it!) and try and capture the colour and feel of these unique places.

The colours of these gypsy caravans for hire at the campsite where we were staying in Keel were just asking to be photographed! Great inspiration for a painting or embroidery.

Dugort Beach on the other side of the island. Perfect place to spend a perfect warm summer's day.

Even when it rains....

When my husband and I moved to Ireland nearly three years ago we made a pact not to complain about the weather! Not a very Irish thing to do but we felt coming from the sunny skies of Australia to the grey chalky skies of the Emerald Isle might be a challenge so not complaining about something we couldn't change seemed like a great idea.

This was yesterday for example:
 

And this was today.....


When you're used to waking up to sunshine, this can be hard to get used to. A glimpse of summer promise than gone..... But if there is one thing God is teaching us during our time in Ireland is that life is full of hope, and that even in the small bits of sunshine, He is good to us & reminds us of how blessed we are. We live in a beautiful part of the world which wouldn't be so green if it didn't get as much rain as it did! And yes, we do miss our balmy, hot, dry summers....but now I if I moved back to Oz I would miss the crisp cold air, the soft rain making muddy puddles in our yard, the joy our daughter gets from jumping in those puddles & of course, snuggling in front of a warm, cosy fire.

Ireland is the most magical country when the sun shines. But it is also beautiful when it rains. A little bit like life sometimes....Life is full of blessings when things are good but life is full of blessings in the hard times to. We sometimes just need to look between the raindrops to find them!