Our lockdown baby has turned 1

One of the saddest things about this last year for us as a family has been the lack of contact with our grandson who was born on 27 March 2020, the week after the first major lockdown.

My daughters first baby, born at just 5lb 13oz, a tiny, perfectly formed baby boy, Jasper Arthur. Our first meeting was through a patio door window and that's pretty much how it's been on and off for the year. Poor Jasper doesn't really know us, even though he only lives 3 miles away. 

He is happy to see us online, but weary if we see him in 'real life' and why wouldn't he be, in all essence we are strangers to him. But things will hopefully change sooner rather than later now, I'm hopeful anyway.

Our first meeting

My daughter loves woodland colours and the woodland theme. 

I made Jasper his birthday card. I'm really enjoying making cards like this, using different coloured papers and pencils.

I also got to make Jasper his very first birthday cake. I spent 2 days designing a cake topper, taking inspiration from different sources but also making it from paper, whilst also having to work out the logistics of how to get it to stand up. I have to say I was pretty pleased with the results.

As Jasper wouldn't be eating any of the iced cake I also made a wholewheat, refined sugar free, no fat carrot cake, with cream cheese topping, not as pretty but he enjoyed it and it tasted pretty good too.

Due to the current restrictions we were not allowed to join in any celebrations but we enjoyed our quick doorstep visit. Fortunately both my daughters with the children have joined together in a childcare bubble so Jasper, Alfie and Arlo could all have fun eating and playing.

Next year needs to be very different!

Paper Cutting

My daughter moved home on Tuesday, during another National Lockdown. 

I wasn't allowed to help, mostly through our own fears, apart from cleaning the old house once the removal men had been and gone and the house was empty. 

So with masks on, windows open and working in different rooms, we got to spend a couple of hours as near to being in each others company as we'd got in weeks.

Not wanting to go to the shops I decided to make a moving home card, to go with the moving in fruitcake I'd made the day before. 

I've only done paper cutting to make cards once before, last year for my husbands birthday. Its a fiddly but pleasant task. 

Roys card was based on one of my photographs taken some time ago, one that I'd like to make into a Lino cut or collagraph one day.

Roy's birthday card

Inspiration for Rhiannon's card was taken from work by a Russian paper artist Tania Lissova. I say inspiration, but what I actually mean is that I tried to blatantly copy a couple of her simpler paper plants. I have no idea how she makes such intricate tiny pieces of art, they are just amazing. Apparently she doesn't use scissors and they are probably a quarter of the size of my effort.

Rhiannon's moving home card