Small Shifts & Free Gifts

"The beginning is always today"

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Happy New Year! I don't know about you, but mine has started slowly; still feeling more like a Wood Snake curled up in hibernation, and definitely not yet ready to ride the Fire Horse coming our way for the first time in 60 years on 17th February...

According to the Chinese Zodiac, this will be a year of momentum, of rapid change and growth - hopefully all to the good! For now though, no grand resolutions, just small shifts to make space for simple pleasures...

starting my days with yoga or a walk across the fields.
picking up my pen or brush to make some drawings before touching phone or computer and being pulled into the email vortex!
coffee in my favourite Ginny Sims mug and some homemade trail mix.
writing one or two New Year notes to friends each day (only just started, later than hoped, but think I can get away with sending right up to the end of January, no?!)
A page a day of Katy Hessel's 'How to Live an Artful Life'. Today's quote (there is one short daily entry on varying themes) is from the late, great Phyllida Barlow on questioning authority, and who gets to decide what is "good" and "bad" art.

Read on for free gifts from nature, and from Scribble & Daub...

Seeds of Change

I took a stroll along a well-trodden path last week. Towards the end of my muddy stomp, I felt a crunch underfoot, and looked down to find the fractured remains of a strange seed pod. Looking up, masses were still clinging to the branches, and even more scattered on the floor. Gathered up as many as I could and carried them home to draw.

I've walked that path so many times, and never noticed these before, but there are always gifts for those who look. I now have five odd little paintings to frame as a reminder of the turn of this year.

“We must find time to stop and thank the people

who make a difference in our lives.”

John F Kennedy

Scribble & Daub is built on love and gratitude; the cards and gifts you purchase from us go out into the world as emblems of your own kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity, and together we create a gifting cycle that ripples on and on.

We never cease to be grateful for the love and support you give us, thank you for everything in 2025, and here's to a new year filled with the age-old art of correspondence, small gifts, and real world delight.

As a token of our appreciation, every order over £100 this month will be sent with a surprise gift.