new growth

A day and a half of sunshine meant a day and a half in the garden. Not mine - I haven't started on mine yet - but clients', my day job.

Aquilegia just starting off

It gladdens the soul to see fresh new growth after a little bit of warmth (if we forget the snow of last week...).

An old wooden half barrel of Cyclamen

Spring brings such promise that we have been waiting for through the cold months of Winter.

All the usual suspects were making an appearance....

Primrose

and Crocus

but one I didn't expect to see quite this early, a lone daisy!

I was joined in one garden by Beau having a sneaky drink before the pond is netted to protect any future frog spawn.

At home, I spent one lovely afternoon with two friends and our children. The logistics of seating eight when my small table only has three chairs was solved by piling all the small people on a picnic rug in the living room with plenty of homemade pizza and fizzy lemonade, whilst us oldies (sorry girls!) had a more sedate time in the kitchen with side salads and even cutlery.....

I baked a giant cupcake to celebrate two 40th birthdays, one a few weeks past and the other soon to come, and we spent a few lovely, relaxing hours catching up on all our news and goings-on.

business creating

#1 The last couple of days have found me investigating branding. Up until this week, I thought branding was something ranchers did to cattle in old Westerns. However, whilst we have been having snow, sleet, hail and other seasonally appropriate weather here in rural Yorkshire, I have spent my time surrounded by fonts, colours, images and all manner of things in an attempt to create a distinctive brand for sunflowers and driftwood. 

I have also been playing with photos and effects as you can see - I know I'm terribly late to the party on the polaroid-style shots - but I'm still learning my way around my Chromebook! (Apologies for the pictures being a little dark and grainy as they were taken on my phone.)

Now this is were I would love to have some feedback: I want to use homemade business cards. I will be working with textiles and would like to show them off; my packaging will be 100% recycled and sustainable. The business cards will also be used as product tags (with the required legal information on the reverse) - do you like the idea? Would it be too time-consuming, amateurish, tacky or 'old hat'? 

The end product will have the sunflowers and driftwood name rather than the 'handmade' bit and the smaller one is roughly the size of a standard business card. Love to hear your thoughts - I think they call this market research! (business studies lesson 1: tick)

Through all of this work and research, I'm remembering to make space for family time too. The above photo was taken with breakfast and the papers in bed on Sunday morning - a moment captured between a boy and his cat.