Thursday 13 August 2020

Love Hedgehogs!


Hedgehog
Love Hedgehogs, Be A Wild Gardener! 

We were sitting out in the garden late one summer evening about 8pm. It was just becoming dusk though still light enough to see well. we were just talking quietly and then we heard a rustling in the edge of the shrub birder. we kept very still and waited. I carefully got my camera a out and poised to take a photo of whatever it was that was wandering in the bushes. 

Suddenly there it was a beautiful hedgehog!! We were overjoyed to see this endangered creature in our garden!! For years we have made our garden hedgehog friendly and now this was our reward. 

Now he or she is a wild creature and should never be handled or taken indoors unless sick or injured. they are certainly not pets and not to be domesticated. The beautiful, inquisitive and just plain cute hedgehog is in rapid decline.

We need as many of these gorgeous hedgehogs in the wild as possible as they are endangered and we do not want them to become extinct. 


 So now our garden is home to one of these gorgeous creatures and we are so happy! They are becoming very rare and they need our help now! 

Every one of us can help stop its extinction by doing a little to help.

  • Make a patch in the garden "wild", let the grass grow a bit longer.
  • Make a small -or large - undisturbed woodpile, gather leaves and pile them up or just leave the leaves where they fall in borders. 
  • Provide a dish of clean water.
  •  Make accessible holes in fences so Hedgehogs can roam.They need large territories much bigger than most gardens so need to be able to roam in between your neighbours gardens as well. 
  •  Check any bonfires for hogs before you light them.
  • Check your garden before doing any deadly strimming. 

You may be rewarded with a wild Hedgehog or two! In the meantime enjoy these photos of our hedgehog and the items I thought he or she looked lovely on. 


Love Hedgehogs Card
Love Hedgehogs Card
by RaintreeDesigns


Do you like Hedgehogs?

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Thursday 9 January 2020

Nature Inspired Coasters

I like to have coasters all over our home. I find they are so handy and so much better than trying to get ring marks off furniture when a careless person has just put a nice hot mug of coffee down! 

Equally it is lovely to be able to serve drinks to guests on a unique pretty coaster.

With this in mind and because we love nature and animals I made a whole series of nature coasters that you can now purchase here on my zazzle store.

Please take a look at the small selection here to give you an idea then click through to my Store to see the full collection here.





I like our home to look nice and if at all possible tidy! I do find that having a variety of coasters around helps for people to use them.


 So I don't keep our coasters in a draw but have most of them out on display much of the time. 

So they need to be pretty, practical and fit the decor of our home and they need to be interesting. 

 

 
The designs are all original photographs taken by myself or my husband while we are on our nature walks locally in our own garden or on holiday. 

They range from flowers, various animals, beach and nature scenes and I am always adding new designs.


Some coasters are round in shape, some square or with rounded edges. 

In materials, they range from marble, sandstone, travertine, and limestone finished with a cork backing for scratch-free tables to hard Plastic coasters with cork back. 

Some are sold individually, some as a pack.


Please take a look at a small selection here and do click through to the page to see the full collection of current coasters here.


So whether you like nature scenes, animals, birds or flowers there is a coaster here for you and your home. Coasters also make great housewarming gifts too!! 

Please Click through to my Store to see the full collection here.

  Thank You so much for your visit, if you like this page please share.

Wednesday 16 January 2019

Notebooks A Special Place To Record

Reeds and water


















I just love a Notebook! Even in these days of computers, apps, ipads and high tech, there is just something about handwriting in a Notepad that is real and satisfying. 

However, it needs to be a Notebook that is special to us, original and means something.

I like to use Notepads to write special goals, some will use them as a diary. Also, a good place to keep track of household accounts and things we want to achieve. 


They are great for birdwatchers and nature lovers to record sightings and learning new aspects of nature. Excellent for writing down sightings of wildflowers and trees. 


Also brilliant for recording the successes and lessons of the gardening year and jot down helpful notes to remind us when to plant and sow and reap vegetables and flowers.  Useful to make notes to record work in the garden and allotment.


They are also great places to jot down family recipes or to gather the stories and memories from relatives as you sit and chat with them. Some may want to use a notepad to track a newborn babies milestones and development or just those special never to be repeated moments.


They are also wonderful places to keep our favourite quotations or poetry either found or created.  


Each notebook is  6.5 inches by 8.75 inches and covers printed in vibrant colours, all of these here are from original photographs. There are 80 black and white lined pages, college ruled with lay-flat spiral binding.


Notepads also make great gifts. They are practical and beautiful, can be personal yet you do not need to know the size or the personal decor tastes of the receiver. They are suitable for all ages and can be just as suitable for someone you don't know all that well, to a treasured loved one. You can even write your own special message inside.


So even with all the tech solutions, we have these days I still think there is a special place for a great Notebook. 

Take a look at the ones here and click through the picture below Home-Office Notes to see the whole collection.








Bulrushes By Water Notebook
Bulrushes By Water Notebook
by RaintreeDesigns


Find the whole collection here

How would you use a Notebook?  Thank You so much for your visit, if you like this page please share.

Monday 10 December 2018

Lovely Nature Print Leggings

I love these leggings! I wear leggings a lot for exercise, Pilates and Yoga and also just for leisure often with a longish top and in the winter with a nice big longline jumper. Leggings are also great for going out if they are unique enough and with the right top can look amazing!!

However many leggings are quite boring and if they do have a print everyone is wearing the same print which is embarrassing! So when I had the opportunity to design these leggings I wanted to put a unique print with a tribute to our wonderful natural world onto them.

I love taking photographs of nature and I wanted to see how these transferred on to a piece of clothing. I am very happy with the way the photographs of nature scenes and flowers and butterflies printed on to the leggings. I like the details and the interesting form that comes through on the fabric.

 My other photos of skies and water scenes are  less busy and give a cool blue or red or other more block colour though with a subtle shading and depth from  the original photograph of the sky or sea or water scenes.

If you enjoy wearing leggings or you know someone who does do take a more detailed look by clicking through any of the links!

Each pair of leggings is printed before being sewn whch means the print extends across the whole fabric.  Leggings have a compression fit due to the high spandex content so are figure-hugging and leggings can suit all body types it is up to you how you wear them and what you wear them with.
They are made of an Ultra-stretch eco polyester spandex blend (88% polyester, 12% spandex) of a medium weight. To care for your leggings it's simple,  just wash on a machine wash cold and lay flat to dry.
This all adds up to comfortable and cool clothing great for the person who has a flair for the individual, who perhaps likes nature and loves wonderful colours and a unique print you wont see everywhere.

Here are just a selection of leggings with nature prints available. Do click any picture to find out more and see more of my designs. Thank you.

Thursday 22 November 2018

Cushions With Nature Photography

I love taking photographs of the natural world for designs on these cushions, throw cushions and pillows. At home, I love to have lots of cushions to give a homely, welcoming, warm feeling to our home.

Photographs include birds, horses, ducks, butterflies, bees, nature scenes, skies, water, vegetables, flowers and plants. All photographs are taken with love and care. Some in our own garden, some out on countryside walks and nature reserves.

I always feel that it is important to spend time in nature as it is very healing and relaxing. As our natural world becomes more crowded out by housing and buildings I love to celebrate nature in the hope that others will feel it is important too to conserve the wildlife, animals, flowers and natural world we have left. 

I love to have nature in home decor to remind me even when I cannot be outside experiencing it that nature is all around and so important. It is also very beautiful and wonderful! 

Most of these cushions have the original photograph and some have a verse or quote as well, as I do love beautiful quotes and find them very uplifting and often comforting.

Some have the design on both sides while others may have a plain colour on the reverse.  Many are customizable for your own personalization or message.

For many, I transfer the design of a photograph of an animal, nature scene, flower or natural detail onto the cushion. For others, I will make the image small then tile the image to make a lovely interesting pattern.

The cushions and pillows come in different sizes and are made from 100% Polyester high-quality Simplex knit fabric. It is a soft heavyweight material that gives a lovely colour definition for the photograph designs.

Great unique gifts for Christmas, Birthdays and House warmings and a lovely complement to many living rooms and bedrooms and are in a variety of colours. I also feel they make lovely Mothers Day gifts as they are so pretty. 

Anyone who loves and appreciates nature will be happy with a gift like this. The advantage is you do not need to know any measurements and many of these cushions will fit happily into a variety of decor styles.

Do click through any of the links below to find out more or to look at the full collection. More are being added on a regular basis.  Thank you!