Easter

For lots of people, Easter is a chance to get together with family, paint and hunt for eggs, and eat your body weight in chocolate or attend church and celebrate the religious festivities. After doing some research I found that in some parts of the world, the local traditions that mark the Christian holiday are really interesting. Some of the ways that different countries celebrate Easter might surprise you- I know I certainly found them interesting! From Poland to Bermuda, here are eight places around the world with wonderful and fascinating Easter traditions.

Sicily

At Easter time in the Sicilian town of San Biagio Platani, the town’s residents construct elaborate arches and domes all made from bread and other foodstuffs. The Archi di Pasqua — Easter arches — is a tradition that dates back to the 18th century.

Poland

Śmigus-dyngus, aka lany poniedziałek (wet Monday), is a Polish Easter Monday tradition where you may well get very wet indeed! People of all ages chuck water at each other in a 1,000-year-old tradition. It supposedly began as a pagan cleansing ritual. Nowadays, it’s a good excuse for throwing water all over each other!

Bermuda

A hot cross bun is a pretty irresistible treat at Easter, and there are no shortage of them in Bermuda on Good Friday. Apparently, there used to be a superstition that your home would burn down if you didn’t eat one. These days, Bermudians are too busy outside flying kites to worry about that. People from across the island make their own beautiful and colourful creations to launch into the air, representing the resurrection of Christ.

Finland

In Finland you’ll find children walking around the streets asking for treats whilst dressed as witches … nothing unusual there, right? But this isn’t Halloween. Children in Finland get on their broomsticks at Easter. The old Finnish belief was that by wearning witchlike clothes, children could fend off evil spirits.

Greece

At the Greek dinner table at Easter the eggs are all painted bright red — the colour of life, and the blood of Christ. Many Orthodox Christians in Greece also paint the sky with fireworks at Easter time. Every church on the island of Spetses sets off fireworks at midnight on Easter Saturday too!

France

If you find yourself in the French commune of Haux, south of Bordeaux on Easter Monday, you’ll see the huge omelette they make that can feed a thousand people! The tradition began during the time of Napoleon, who supposedly loved the local dish so much so that he ordered they make an omelette large enough to feed his army.

Norway

Easter time- do you think of Easter egg hunts outside with spring in full bloom? In Norway it means one thing: time to put the feet up with a good murder mystery. Påskekrims — Easter crime stories — are really popular. Every year, Norwegian TV and radio stations are wall-to-wall with these whodunnits. We don’t really know why!

Guatemala

Guatemala knows how to celebrate Easter and they really make the most of it. Their Easter celebrations run through the whole of Holy Week. There are fireworks and processions of floats carrying biblical sculptures, as well as carpets laid on the street made of flowers and fruit, so it’s a beautiful and colourful celebration.

Why not start your own Easter tradition? For lots of people, me included, it’s a great time of year to spend with loved ones- you can keep it traditional with Easter eggs, games and maybe religious celebrations too or start your own more individual celebration. A lot more people also celebrate by giving and sharing Easter cards to celebrate the festival…I’ve chosen to create my Easter designs using spring-like flowers, as it is the season of new life. Would love to know what you do with your families and friends at Easter time. Feel free to share below!

Gift giving ideas

What do you do if you are looking for a gift for that special someone- be it a friend, parent or loved one who already has everything they need?

How do you make them feel special on their birthday or special occasion? Shopping for just the right birthday for friends, family and people you work with can be hard, but I’ve put together some possible ideas. I wrote a blog about this last year too, which also might help.

I’ve curated a list of some of the easiest and most thoughtful gifts that you might not have thought of.

Here is my list of the best ready-to-post gifts to send;

Personalised gifts

Personalised gifts are the best way to show thought and care, and each one is unique, which makes them even better. I have lots of pretty personalised gifts- from prints that can include the wording of your choice eg. names/song lyrics/dates etc to personalised recipe cards. Have a look by clicking on the pictures to see more.

Eco-friendly gifts

All of the products made by Mary’s House Designs AKA Angela are eco-friendly. It’s something that I really take pride in. Making sure that all of the items are sustainable, made from FSC paper and printed using eco-friendly inks means that the environmental impact of the products is minimal. You can see more here in my values if you would like to learn more.

Gifts for gardeners and flower lovers

There are so many gift ideas that would be suitable for a gardener or flower lover! You can see more in my collections including Patterned Pots, Floral Joy, Seasons, Daisy and Forget-me-not and my newest collections featuring Sunflowers and Bluebells. You can also click on the images below!

Gifts for nature lovers

Do you know someone who loves being out in nature? These images are filled with trees and patterns, and been made with mixed media and collage. These include images inspired by landscapes from imagination and memory, as well as places in the Peak District. This collection includes card sets and fine art prints. You can see more here.

Gifts for writers and stationery lovers

Since I started Mary’s House Designs, I knew I wanted to print on to beautiful card, so I have spent time selecting the most gorgeous card to print on. This makes these gifts ideal for lovers of stationery, cards and writing little notes! The card I use is gorgeously tactile, textured and really thick- it feels so luxurious and is great to write on. It’s made in the UK, in the Lake District too.

There are card packs, notecards, notebooks and correspondence sets amongst these gift ideas. Some of these can be personalised too, which makes them even more special!

Gifts for cooks

My teatowels make super gifts for a pretty kitchen and combined with these recipe cards (that can also be personalised) would be great for the cook in your life! See them all here!

Gifts for the home

I have a huge array of prints that are lovely for the home, and can be printed in a range of sizes, included mounted and unmounted ones. All of the prints are fine art prints, which mean they are archival quality- they are printed using pigmented inks and on high quality art paper. These won’t fade over time if they are framed and are signed and titled too.

As well as this you can purchase coasters ( I have limited colours left, but they’re still lovely), wash bags and teatowels too.

Sea related gifts

I have a beautiful collection of Seaweed inspired artwork, these designs were taken from watercolour paintings and include cards, prints, washbags and gift boxes, see more here.

Finally- I also have wrapping paper to make your gifts extra special!

Thoughtful Gift Giving

It’s heading towards Mother’s Day in the UK and the season ahead of Weddings and other gift giving occasions.

My advice would be;

Plan Ahead

Planning ahead is the first step for staying more mindful, intentional and focused on what is important. It gives you the time and energy to think of different ways you can make gifting more meaningful and joyful. Think about;

• How do you understand and measure the value of a gift?

• How can your appreciation and love be transformed into gifts?

  If you take time to plan for the people you are buying for then you avoid last minute panic and can really reflect on what you want or need to give. It also helps with budgeting too, if you have a tight budget or a specific budget in mind, then you’ll be more likely to stick to it!

  Use one of my notebooks to do your planning! They’re really handy sizes for this very thing.

Be observant

I know that my most thoughtful gift-giving has usually been when I’ve been observant: paying attention to what my friends and loved ones have said they’d like and what their interests are. People do drop hints about what their likes and dislikes are, often when you least expect it! Would they like something useful, or something decorative? Something for the house, or something for themselves?

Thoughtful gift-givers also understand the circumstances of their reciever. People quite often don’t ask for what they want — or even realise that they need it — but by paying attention to what would make their life easier, or more fun or by giving them what they need replacing, you can almost always pick the perfect gift for them.

Try to give creatively

Unique gifts that you take time to source from small businesses can be especially meaningful because they show your loved one that you used your time, energy, and creativity to get them something they’d really like, but isn’t from TKMaxx or Amazon. The possibilities for these type of gifts are endless and you can find the most beautiful items in artisan markets, blogs, instagram and places like Etsy/Folksy/Not on the High Street. You’ll also make the person running the business so happy, honestly, whenever I get an order I genuinely do a happy dance!

You can also choose the loveliest gift wrap to make your gifts even more special.

Be personal

Give someone a personalised gift. There are so many options for this right now- it can be something as simple as their name on a keyring, to a larger scale piece of jewellery that’s been engraved with a special message, there are lots of options. I have lots of gifting options on my website- from personalised gifts to more general ones that are still thoughtful. You are welcome to have a look here.

Send a letter to show you care....

I love the way that cards and letters sent through the post make such a difference to the sender and the recipient. I’m sure we all know how wonderful it is to receive a handwritten letter in the post, it happens so rarely there is such a sense of excitement. That moment when you find the letter on the doormat and wonder who has sent it, or recognise the writing and know there’s something special inside.

There is something so personal and special about the time and consideration that has gone into creating a letter, and because a letter is tangible, I think more meaning can be found in the handwritten text than in an email or some other kind of digital message. Correspondence you can see, touch, smell, and keep is so rare these days. A letter travels to arrive in someone’s hands, in some cases it can travel thousands of miles! I love to write on beautifully textured card or paper, it just feels so pleasurable.

If the joy you experience in receiving a handwritten letter isn’t enough to tempt you into writing one of your own, here are some reasons why it can also be good for you too:

It makes you happy: The person you are writing to is going to experience such excitement and know that you care. A handwritten card or letter shows the recipient how much they mean to you and this, in turn, will make you feel good as well. Letters and cards can be so personal and are a physical reminder to the person that you are thinking about them. I think the effort behind sending any kind of written correspondence sends a message in itself.

It gives you a chance to reflect: Because you are carefully thinking about what you are writing, your mind is able to focus on the content. This means you have time to think about what you are writing down and sharing.

It helps you to be mindful: Writing a letter makes you slow down and take care in the process – you can’t delete anything (unless you have tippex!), so you have to to put thought into what you write. Plus the movement of pen-on-paper encourages peace, it makes you be present in the moment.

You create your own personal history: Letters are responsible for a great deal of what we know about history, significant and more personal events. Saved letters tell a story, and the details like handwriting, and your own voice that comes through in the writing, and is something to be treasured. I have a box filled with letters from when I was a teenager that I received from lots of people and it’s so funny to read back the things we wrote about or at the time; places we went to that I have forgotten about, gigs we were planning on going to, boys we fancied, our hopes and dreams! It’s much nicer than re-reading old emails.

Sending a card or letter in the post is the most lovely way to show you care and I love that the illustrations I make get sent all over and treasured, so you share in my love of nature and creating.

It makes me very happy to know that my illustrations are helping people like you to stay in touch and show love for others, as well as sending thank yous and good wishes all over the world.

I have a little collection of writing paper, printed envelopes and notecards that you might like- click here to have a peep!

Thank you for reading, love Angela x

New life and changes ahead

Many of you who are interested in my work know that alongside Mary’s House Designs I have been a teacher- my teaching career has been a long one so far, I’ve been an Art teacher for 23 years and had lots of other jobs in teaching since- for the last few years I’ve mainly worked with sixth form students which has been AMAZING and inspirational. We have some wonderful young people going out into the world and it has been such a privilege for me to work with them (and obviously with so many inspiring colleagues as well- that kind of goes without saying!).

What some of you don’t know though is that I’m not returning to the classroom in September. I might go back to teaching one day, and probably in a different form to working in a school, but for now I’m going to concentrate on building up my business and creating a different life. This is why each and every order means so much to me- this blog post is a huge thank you!

A thank you for supporting me in making, through buying my products, sharing my news, encouraging me, visiting me at markets, telling your friends….I’m excited and nervous in equal measure about what happens next for me and Mary’s House Designs. I have some ideas for new collections and new products and will be sharing them as I move forward.

Thank you for all of your love and support!

Angela xx

Where did the name Mary’s House Designs come from?

I started Mary’s House Designs as a creative outlet for me (very selfishly!) as my two daughters were growing up and I was feeling the need to create visually again. I think I had spent so long being a mum, being a teacher, looking after the home and being creative in that way, that I forgot about the need I have to make things for myself, or even just play! Anyway, I thought I’d share where the name for Mary’s House Designs came from, so the nosey ones amongst you can have a read.

My name is Angela and my middle name is Mary- that was the starting point. I have been an art teacher for a long time (23 years!) and a mum of two daughters for even longer (29 years!) so I wanted the name of my brand to have a connection to me, but for my creative business to also have some distance. The work I make is very sweet and almost naïve at times and I felt that my middle name of Mary reflected that too- it has an old fashioned charm and sweetness as well.

With my two daughters.

The name Mary also connects to my family and heritage….my mum’s middle name is Mary, (she is Bernadette Mary) and her granny’s name was Mary too. My granny (Josephine) and grandad (Patrick) came to England from Ireland about 100 years ago and made a life here, so my Irish catholic roots are also included in the name.

My Irish grandparents and mum, the side of my family where the name Mary comes from.

In my work there is often a personal connection or story, sometimes I’m not even fully aware of it myself! I grew up next door to a warren and spent hours and hours there, surrounded by nature, collecting flowers and making posies, pressing them, making rose petal perfume (who didn’t in the 70’s!), finding poorly animals and looking after them, the list goes on and on!

Floral cards, drawn and painted from observation and imagination.

But my love of nature is reflected in my work and the personal connection I have to it, sometimes it’s a memory and an imagined flower, or a sky or a tree or landscape.

Tree prints from imagination and memory.

Other times it’s a story from my life that makes its way into my work (like Doris the Dachshund who was Eva, my daughter’s little doggie friend when she was small).

Doris inspired a collection of cards, prints and stationery for my daughter, Eva.

I also liked the thought of the house and home in the name; Mary’s House sounds like somewhere I’d like to go and have some wholesome fun and I hope my work is like that for people, I am all about bringing smiles, helping people feel happier and to try to remind them of the joy in the colour we find in the everyday…so I invite you into my house that has been filled with flowers, nature and pretty things so you can escape for a while and share in my love of colour and pattern!

Thanks for reading- I’d love to hear about your names or stories you’d like to share- please feel free to comment below.

Seaside inspiration

I recently went on a trip to the North Yorkshire coast and found it so inspiring! I haven’t been to the seaside in the UK for such a long time, in fact years, so visiting for the first time in so long was a wonderful experience. We stayed just outside Robin Hood’s Bay for a few days and were able to experience the beautiful countryside, as well as the coastal beauty….how lucky!

We went on a couple of walks that were lovely, the first one was from the place we stayed to Boggle Hole and Robin Hood’s Bay….we ended up taking a wrong turn but didn’t mind too much as we then were able to see more of the very quiet countryside…..obviously when we got to Robin Hood’s bay we had to have some fish and chips and they were amazing!

The next day we walked from Robin Hood’s Bay along the coastal path to Whitby, which is a fabulous walk. It’s almost 7 miles and has a café just over half way, which is very welcome….I was definitely ready for a cuppa and some cake. The path meanders along the coast and goes up and down along the way, we saw all sorts of animals, insects and wild flowers as well as the views of the sea and the cliffs- it’s so invigorating. Obviously when we arrived in Whitby we had to have an ice cream! 

In fact, the trip inspired me so much I actually have created a new collection based on the seaweed that I spotted on the walks we went on, you could see (and smell it!) from the cliff tops and walking along the beach it was all over as the tide went out. You can see my process below in the images. These new designs are much more simple than my usual style but I’m enjoying it…..they’ve been painted purely with watercolour and are quite loose and free in style.

The new prints and cards are a slight departure for me, they are very simple and show the beauty of the different seaweed around the UK. You can see more by clicking here.

Weddings and Love

It’s almost the wedding season and there is a lovely collection of prints, cards and gifts in my online shop that can be personalised too! Pop along and take a look if you are looking for a lovely, personal memento that is perfect to keep forever.