This weekend we had a little retreat to one of my favourite cities to visit, York. The city has such a long and fascinating history: stretching from the Roman to the Anglo-Saxon, through the Viking era to the Medieval times. It is certainly not the only city with such a patchwork heritage, but what IContinue reading “Blog: A weekend in York”
Category Archives: blog
Blog: The colours of winter
The darkest days of winter are behind us, and spring will soon be on the way. But we don’t have to wait until the seasons change to find wonderful displays of colour in nature. On a walk around the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, I challenged myself to find every colour of the rainbow in the plantsContinue reading “Blog: The colours of winter”
Blog: Courses in creativity
I don’t like making new year’s resolutions. When I have set myself targets, I’ve been notoriously bad at keeping to them, and then I just feel bad about failing. I think many people, including myself, would benefit more from seeing the annual tradition of ‘resolutions’ to be a verb, not a noun. Something to beContinue reading “Blog: Courses in creativity”
Blog: shop reopening!
My small shop, selling my handcrafted wares, is reopen for 2021! Open only for a short time between November and December, Handmade by Nellie sells the resin art, woodland crafts, and jewellery that I have crafted over the past year. If you are looking for a festive gift, or even just a decoration for yourContinue reading “Blog: shop reopening!”
My year in mosses
Autumn is possibly the best time to go out searching for mosses and lichens. As bushes and hedgerows shed their leaves, and damper weather arrives, these organisms become vibrant and increasingly more noticeable. But remember to carry your ‘moss-coloured glasses’ with you, and you can spot mosses and lichens all year around – even inContinue reading “My year in mosses”
Blog: (Re)opening my own shop!
My little shop, Handmade by Nellie, has evolved! As sales of my greetings cards went so well last year, and my creative endeavours such as resin crafts are continuing, I have decided to move the shop to a new platform. My hope is that, by doing this, I can spend less time managing sales andContinue reading “Blog: (Re)opening my own shop!”
Blog: Moss and Lichen Crafts
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about my latest creative endeavours – but that’s not to say that they’ve stopped! For Christmas, I received a starter kit for resin art. For a while now, I’ve thought how lovely it would be to encapsulate nature’s treasures in resin, and preserve what might otherwise wilt orContinue reading “Blog: Moss and Lichen Crafts”
Blog: Homemade Natural Firelighters
It feels about time to share another of the seasonal crafts I’ve been trying, with the natural treasures I collected over the autumn months. This one is a particularly cosy, wintery craft: creating natural firelighters out of everyday materials! These are really easy to make yourself, and the finished product can be used at home,Continue reading “Blog: Homemade Natural Firelighters”
Blog: Winter Ornaments for Sale
It’s been just over a month since I launched my own little shop, ‘Handmade by Nellie’, over on Facebook. As well as hand-painted greetings cards, canvases, and bookmarks, I have also been putting hand-crafted winter ornaments and gifts up for sale. These include the wreaths I wrote about in a previous blog, as well asContinue reading “Blog: Winter Ornaments for Sale”
Blog: Opening my own shop!
I’ve been a little busy as of late. I have decided to move forward with a venture that I’ve been considering for a long time: to open up my own shop to sell my art and crafts. I would never be able to run a large scale business, or rely on it for income, butContinue reading “Blog: Opening my own shop!”
Nellie Cole 