On Instagram In February

At the end of each month I write a blog post sharing my Instagram photos from the month. With March just around the corner, here's a look at what I got up to in Febrauary- didn't it wizz by?!

I was super chuffed to be asked by the lovely Holly to become a stockist in her fab shop Hollycrow in Leek, Staffordshire, so I spent the early part of February preparing new pieces for her shop, including new Fair Isle brooch designs. Read more about Holly's shop in this post

Holly is stocking a range of my textile jewellery including my knitted and Harris Tweed brooches and rings as well as a selection of my Fair Isle brooches and necklaces, which are hand knitted in British wool

I had a great photo shoot for some new work with the (always) brilliant Hammonds Photography Studio. I'm gradually adding the new pieces to my Etsy Shop, watch this space!

Valentine's biscuits! You can find the recipe for these in this post

Mr Nelson. His new trick is grabbing my feet by sliding under the duvet, which is what he'd been doing prior to me taking this photo- hence his mischievous look! 

It really is a cat's life because he spends frosty evenings like this while I go off to the day job!

I bought the beautiful Jamieson and Smith Shetland wool shade card- it's so lovely! I've chosen some new colours for some new Fair Isle designs which I will share soon

A tiny row of houses emerged unintentionally in one of my Fair Isle designs!

Love working on new designs and the Shetland wool is just lovely to work with

This is a sample I've knitted to try and felt- fingers crossed it works, I'll let you know!

Although it's been a cold month there are signs of Spring coming through, with the evenings gradually getting lighter and flowers and blossom coming into bloom. We're on the right side of Winter now, I love the sunny months

Walking by the river close to where I live is something I like to do all year round, even in freezing February!

What did you get up to in February? Wishing you all a lovely March!

Walks By The River

If you follow me on Instagram you will know that Mr Writer has gone away to work in Korea for a month, so my mission until he gets back is to keep as busy as possible to make the time go quickly! I'm going to try to get out for more walks and at the weekend when he first left I walked down to the river near to where I live (in a little corner of Essex) to take some photos. Here are some of my favourite views...

I love living by the river- what's your favourite thing about where you live?

New Pieces In My Etsy Shop!

Just a quick post today to let you know that I've added some new pieces to my Etsy Shop! Each piece is lovingly handmade by myself and arrives beautifully presented in a hand decorated gift box. I'm still beavering away behind the scenes so there will be more to come, but here's a look at the pieces I've added so far...

Mustard Harris Tweed Button Bookmark

Green/Brown Harris Tweed Button Bookmark

 I've added three new colours to my Harris Tweed Button Brooch range...

Lilac Harris Tweed Button Brooch

 Pale Pink Harris Tweed Button Brooch

Blue Harris Tweed Button Brooch 

Swarovski Crystal Embellished Necklace

I hope you like my new pieces, I'll share more as I add them to the shop. Have a lovely Sunday!

New Stockist For Louise Dawson Design- HollyCrow, Staffordshire

I'm so happy to tell you that you can now find a selection of my Fair Isle jewellery, Harris Tweed and knitted Button Brooches and rings at the lovely shop HollyCrow in Leek, Staffordshire. I was so chuffed when Holly asked me to be a stockist- if you're in the area pop in to see her fab selection of clothes, jewellery, gifts and more, made by Holly herself and other independent Designer Makers, or check out her website here. Thank you Holly!

Valentine's Day Biscuits Recipe

Valentines Day may be tomorrow but there's still time to make some lovely treats to gift! Here is the recipe for these simple but yummy shortbread sandwich biscuits, filled with jam and buttercream...

Makes aprox 28 single heart shaped biscuits/14 sandwich biscuits

Ingredients

For the shortbread biscuits

150g plain flour

100g butter cut into small pieces

50g caster sugar

For the filling

75g softened butter

75g icing sugar (plus extra for dusting)

2-3tbsp jam of your choice (I used Loganberry)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees

1) Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the butter and sugar

2) Rub the butter into the flour and sugar mixture until all the butter is incorporated with the flour. The mixture should resemble crumble mix

3) Press the mixture together to form a ball of dough- add a tiny drop of water if the mixture is a little dry

4) Roll the mixture out to aprox 4-5mm thick using a rolling pin and floured work surface

5) Cut out your biscuits with a pastry cutter of your choice. The heart cutter I used was aprox 4,5cm long

6) Place onto a couple of large, greased baking trays and prick with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 190 degrees, or until golden. Leave to cool completely

7) To make the buttercream, beat together the softened butter and icing sugar until completely combined. Spread onto one half of 14 biscuits

8) Spread the jam on top of the buttercream

9) Sandwich the other biscuits on top. Dust with icing sugar

10) Enjoy with a nice cup of tea! These biscuits would make a lovely thoughtful gift and would look really lovely wrapped in cellophane and tied with ribbon

No chance for me to give them to Mr Writer as a gift- he'd already eaten quite a few before I'd put the filling in!

If you're wondering where I got the fab heart shaped tea bags, they are handmade by ContoursAlbion, who I first discovered on Instagram. Alise makes tea bags in many different shapes including cat shaped (yay!) to add extra fun to your tea time. The tea tastes lovely too!

If you'd like to find out how to make coasters like the ones pictured, they are made from old CDs and lace- check out my How To here

Happy baking!

Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

At the weekend I gad a great photo shoot at Hammonds Photography Studio in Chelmsford for some new jewellery pieces. I'm now working on adding all of these pieces to my Etsy shop- watch this space!  Here is a sneak peek at some photos from the shoot...

New Fair Isle brooch designs, hand knitted to my own designs in British wool

I have chosen three spring like colours that I haven't used before to make new Harris Tweed Button Brooch designs

There will be several new Fair Isle necklace designs coming to my Etsy Shop soon. These are hand knitted in Shetland wool

Teal Knitted Necklace with Upcycled Fabrics- I haven't made this style of necklace for some time but I really miss making them, so I will be re-introducing this design to my shop. I'm going to include the option of making custom orders if you'd like to choose a particular colour for your necklace

Harris Tweed Button Bookmarks with upcycled fabrics

I've been making these "Half Moon" necklaces for some time now but have always sold them before they've made it into the Etsy Shop, so I'm pleased to say that these will be up in my shop soon! These are a labour of love which I so enjoy making- I love embellishment and for these necklaces I have used Swarovski Crystals, Freshwater Pearls, Mother of Pearl and beads upcycled from broken jewellery.

Thank you for letting me share this sneak peek with you today- I'll let you know when I've added all the new pieces to my shop!