Welcome to my first blog post at Dot & Lizzi!
Blogging is pretty new to me, so please join me as I start this blogging journey! I’ve got, what I think, will be some fun blog posts lined up, including…
Saturday Studio - where I can show you some of my work in process.
Monday Mum Zone - where we can chat, talk Mum stuff, tips and tricks, the highs and lows!
101 things to do in a pinafore! - Exploring all the fantastic things little ones can do in their pinafores. This is your chance to share your photos of your little ones up to various activities in their Dot & Lizzi pinafore and you may get your very own blog post feature!
Craft Time - a craft activity for you to do with your little ones tailored for babies to pre-school age (I studied child development at college and was a nanny for many years before becoming a mummy)!
101 Trouser adventures! Again your chance to show what your little ones get up to in their Dot & Lizzi trousers for an opportunity to appear in your own blog feature!
And finally…
Story time - where you can cuddle up with your little one and watch/listen to one of our favourite stories - read by me or the youngest Dot & Lizzi team member - my daughter K-girl!
So I thought I would kick things off with my Saturday Studio and where better to start than with a little introduction to me.
My name is Lois and I was brought up in a creative household, my Mum and Dad met at Art college - my Mum studying art and my Dad studying ceramics. My Dad went on to be a full time potter, hand throwing pots in his local pottery.
I have so many happy memories of that time in my childhood, the sound of the wood pigeons (I still think of my Dad’s pottery when I hear them now), pretending I was running his ceramics shop, spinning clay so fast on the wheel that it would fly off! (Ok so Dad probably didn’t appreciate that so much!) And always always stopping off at the pottery on our way to Grandparents or holidays to check the kiln was off!
Mum (the Lizzi in Dot & Lizzi) is an artist, art teacher, seamstress and tries her hand at most crafts! I learnt to knit and sew from a very young age - taught by my Mum on her machine. I remember I had my own little knitting needles and yarn set. I also learnt to draw and paint from a very young age and would draw still life pictures from around the house and portraits of my family.
A selection of my early artwork.
My Nana (Dot from Dot & Lizzi) has always been an inspiration to me also in so many ways, not just creative. She loved walks in bluebell woods, irises, baking - there was always a tin of freshly baked biscuits of some sort when we visited, camping and the sound of rain on the canvas - a love we shared, canal boat holidays and family! I remember their house in Oxfordshire with great fondness and I remember the brightly coloured patchwork knitted blanket that was always over the back of the sofa and the crackling wood on the fire which was always lit in the cooler months. Nana always had some knitting on the go and both my Nana’s knitted things for us when we were small.
The fireplace at my Nana & Grandad’s house - drawn by me at age 15.
So I have continued with the family tradition and kept up with my art, sewing, knitting and crafts. My studio is my family home. I work in the living/dining room which is light and airy. Obviously the dream would be to have a dedicated sewing/craft studio room, but for now I enjoy working at my little pine family table. I ensure that my children grow up surrounded by creativity so that they too can pick up the love of art and crafts and explore them for themselves.
A painting by my son that he did at nursery.
Comments