Winter Weekend

On Friday we had lots of snow, covering everything in a thick blanket of white in a few hours. Like many people in England this weekend, we are enjoying the perfect excuse to stay at home and relax. I've been spending time snuggled on the sofa under a fleecy blanket, with my hot water bottle, a cup of tea and a slice of carrot cake.

I've been enjoying having the time to read a few magazines...

With the cold weather outside I had a real desire to pick up my knitting needles and knit. My knitted cushion cover project has made a bit of progress...I'm loving seeing the cables grow...

I started a new project this week and made a little progress this weekend.

During the week the temperatures dropped rapidly and our little flat got a bit chilly. I decided my next project would be a knitted blanket for Mr C and I to snuggle under on cold nights. I'm planning to knit lots of squares and join them together, I made one so far and have many more to knit. I'm using Debbie Bliss Cashmerino dk wool in dark navy and teal, it's so soft and a real pleasure to knit with. I thought it would be nice to knit these squares whenever I need something simple to do.

I hope that you are having a lovely weekend and you are keeping warm.

A New Year :: My One Little Word for 2013

The start of a new year is so refreshing, it's the dawn of a new period in time. New Year signals the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and bring a fresh approach to the time ahead. Of course you can do this at any time during the year, but New Year for me is a sign that I should take time to reflect on the years that have passed and think about how I want to shape the time ahead.

For me, it's about hanging a blank calendar on the wall ready to be filled with new opportunities, creating the year I want. Whether it's a change I want to make, new experiences I hope to have or new things I would like to achieve, it feels that there really are endless possibilities to come in time ahead...This is what I love about a new year. 

I love making lists. Taking time to write a new year resolutions list is something I always do, as it's one of the most important lists of my year! This list isn't rushed, isn't ticked off in a few weeks and is never thrown away. The changes or goals set will help shape me and my life ahead. I love to keep my new year resolution lists from years gone by to see what hopes and dreams I had each year. It makes me smile when I see how the list changes over time.

During the past few weeks I've spent time thinking about my list for 2013. With the rush of Christmas, New Year and the first week back at work over, I've had time to think. We have had endless cloudy days and lots of rain, so a welcome return of clear skies has brought with it a little more clarity in my thinking. I have taken a little longer than normal to think about what I truly want for the year. Last year I managed to kick start my creative goals with a list of what I wanted to do in 2012. I achieved so much more than I thought I would, you can see a little summary here.

...This year the list will be a little different...

In September I discovered scrapbooking. I have been making a few cards on and off for a while and I started looked at a few blogs for papercrafting inspiration and supplies when I came across scrapbooking. I was drawn to the beautiful way that people track their memories using journalling, patterned paper and photos. Over the past few months scrapbooking has manifested itself for me as a way I can reflect on my day to day, a great way to journal about my memories and is a fun way to use the photos I take. I signed up for a few online classes, shopped around for tools and paper supplies, read inspiring scrapbooking blogs, and listened to papercrafting podcasts. I feel that scrapbooking is such a great way to track your everyday memories, so I decided to start Project Life as a way to scrapbook and I'm really enjoying it.

The discovery of scrapbooking has brought with it a new way to think about how I write my resolutions list. This year I hope to use the notion of choosing one word to help me shape my year ahead. If you haven't heard of it take a look at this post by Ali Edwards. Ali Edwards is a super talented scrapbooker and a big name within the scrapbooking community. Ali runs a year long online class called One Little Word run by Big Picture Classes. One Little Word is about picking a word that you want to be part of your life for the year ahead and beyond.

I've spent time exploring the words I could use, my favourites were focus, balance, grow and create. I took time to really think about my one little word for 2013...I chose the word 'Grow'. It really resonates with me... 

Starting this blog came from the word grow. I wanted to grow the time I spent being creative, developing my creativity and my practical skills. Grow was a key word behind the name of my blog too, The Pink Button Tree means something to me, it's not just a name. For me the word pink symbolises being vibrant, happy and full of love. The button symbolises my creativity and desire to become well rounded, practical and crafty. It's a button with four holes; one for making, one for baking, one for gardening and one for home ideas. The tree symbolises my desire to continually grow my creative skills and knowledge every day...I want to grow into a wise old oak tree passing my knowledge on through the many acorns I pass on over the years. It's the chance to plant a seed and enable others grow, so they can do something they are inspired by each day.

...I know that I have a long way to go on my journey. To grow is what I really want from this year.

Following the structure of One Little Word, I have set myself 12 intentions for the year. They are like resolutions but are statements using the word grow that I want to focus on every month. Having a monthly intention is a great way to keep the momentum and clarity of my aims and resolutions in a more permanent but relaxed way during the year.

Grow will mean that I'll be doing more of the same, developing new projects, growing my abilities, planting a few new seeds to try something new. I'm keen to bake and cook more, growing my experience of cooking so I have a wider set of things I can make. I'm planning to make more projects for our home to grow our home into an even cosier space. I constantly see things I want to try and make so I want to grow my crafty skills going forwards. I'm not setting myself specific projects I want to create this year as I think this may add too much structure, I want to see where things take me so I can grow in whatever direction things take me.

I wanted to wish you all a very happy new year. Thank you so much for reading my blog. I've been overwhelmed by how many of you have visited it over the past year, your comments and page views really spur me on. Please do leave comments as I'd love to hear your thoughts.

...So onwards with the word grow...What will be your word for 2013?

2012 :: A year in review

Last January I wrote a post, New Year, New Projects, about the things that I hoped to achieve during the year. I started my blog in November 2011 with this post about my desire to start a new chapter in my life and get creative. I wrote about my crafty beginnings which sparked a list of things I wanted to learn over the coming year. I'm super proud to show you a summary of what I've managed to achieve this year.

I had a busy year of making...I learnt to knit a chunky scarf when I started my blog... 

I attempted to start crochet...I didn't have time to continue with it, but maybe this year!

I took the plunge and decided to start knitting a cable cushion cover

During a patchwork and quilting taster session I got hooked on patchwork and buying fabrics...

I said goodbye to my Mum's sewing machine and invested in my own new sewing machine...

I made a quilted patchwork sewing machine cover

Made my first patchwork quilt and wrote instructions of how to make the quilt...

I made a cushion for a good friend

 Designed and made my own Christmas Patchwork Stocking and made two just in time for Christmas!

I got back into paper crafting and made some cards...

I started gardening and planted some plants and flowers and watched the garden bloom

 With the awful weather during the summer we still had a little crop of fruit and veg to eat!

I was given my dream window boxes and added some summer and winter flowers to them...

I made a few things for our home...I created my own labels for our spice rack

...learnt how to make sloe gin

and did a bit of upcycling, making coasters from wall tiles 

I spent a little bit of time in the kitchen cooking and baking...

Well, what a year. I'm so very proud of what I've managed to achieve. There haven't been many years where I feel that I've developed so much, I've learnt so many practical things and achieved so much! 

Thank you so much for following my journey so far, I really appreciate all your comments and visits you make to my blog. I hope that you will join me during 2013 to see what I get up to, I've got some great things planned and I'd love to share these with you.