Time!

Yes that thing that keeps slipping away!  Where does it go when we're not looking?  You know the expression that someone has too much time on their hands?  Could they not buddy up with someone who doesn't and share?   

Part of my collection of defunct fob watches.

Anyway, I found one of the only photos I took whilst we were in Sweden the other week and it's of the herd of reindeer wandering around the Liseberg.  I know it's an aftershot but aren't they lovely? 

I bought a Sizzix yonks ago and haven't really done much in the way of fabric with it but then there were some offers on for the dies and I bought an apple core one.  I didn't really see the point in spending money on dies for squares, rectangles and triangles when they can be cut easily and far more economically with a ruler.  This is a shape that's not easily cut at all so I went for it and with a pack of Hancock's fabric made this little flimsie. 

It's funny I happened to mention on Facebook that Hancock's used to be so wonderful in having free international postage offers now and then, providing you spent a lot but who doesn't.  As their name had been linked on the post they must have seen it as a couple of days later, miracle of miracles, they had an international postage offer of half price postage!  Nice of them to remember us, I hope it was profitable for them.  

I have been taking part in Dawn Schiller's PocketFae class and yesterday I finally managed to sit upright and make this little guy, hence all my watches out.  This one was in a Tim Holtz fob as I wanted to practise first.  I'm 50/50 on liking him or not.  I can make quite a few adjustments when I make the next one but it's very, very difficult when the depth is so shallow.  

I've had a very bad week with the tummy unfortunately including a point where John found me collapsed on the hall floor unconscious.  He and Elsa have had me wrapped in cotton wool all week and I have to see my consultant again today.  I am taking it easy but we have sort of cancelled Christmas this year and, as I said at the beginning, time has just disappeared. What we have will have to do as I don't have the breath or energy to go out at all.  

It has been a strange year for us but, as always this time of year, we will put it to bed with the great excitement of the clean page of a new one in just over a week.  If I don't 'see' you on Facebook or have the time to do another post on here have a fantastic, healthy and happy Christmas and New Year.  XXX

The Final Three and Home Again

I had great fun finishing of the last three of the Marotte sceptres. 

This one had a bit of a problem with wild hair until I severely combed it through and thinned it.  Now it's only moderately out of control, but that's good!  The top hat sort of helps to control it. 

 I think years of peering through too much hair has made him a little short sighted so he needed glasses too.

Of course one of them had to actually be a jester so this one volunteered.  I think she does it rather well. 

And of course the tricorn hat helps too. 

 And finally I found a flapper lurking around at the end of the queue waiting for some adornment.

Feathered headband, bob haircut and bead rope necklace.

I was glad to end last week.  There was enough going on for me and all sorts of other things kept crawling out of the woodwork but it did keep us occupied.  I will find out the results of all the tests and procedures I had done tomorrow but the main thing is I don't have stomach cancer so that was a relief.

Our trip to Gothenburg was wonderful.  You will have to forgive me but the only photos I took was of a herd reindeer who happened to be running past us at the time and it was rather blurry as I hadn't had my camera out until that point!  I told you I don't do photos.  Anyway it was bitterly cold outside, ferociously hot anywhere inside and absolutely 100% all Christmas.  We've come home and are relishing in the peace of no Christmas earworms blasting out at us from every speaker available!!!  Totally loved the place though and the people were great, every single one of them spoke perfect english and were so helpful.  The food was on a par price wise with here but the alcohol was astronomical, £7.50 for a small glass of house wine.

Other than the appointment with the consultant tomorrow morning we have a blank weekend planned and I'm looking forward to going into the studio for a play.  I won the new book Approaches to Stitch from Maggie Grey and it's absolutely fantastic and very inspiring.

Have a great weekend whatever you are doing.


.

Another Week, Another Book

I've made another little book, this one should be called Arsenic and Old Lace!  It's not quite 3 inches square with similar pages to the other one and leather spine. 

They would make cute mini albums or records of event books, if you're brave enough to write in them.  I'm hoping to make a few for next year and the Art Weeks and they may even make some money for charity!  Just have to pull my finger out and make them now though I have tea stained a few sheets of paper ready for when the mood hits.  

Elsa moaned that you don't see how small they are from the photos.  Here's one of them both together next to a reel of thread.  

I've also completed two of the marotte or jester's scepters. I do love the rummaging through all the bit's I've collected and putting some of it to use! 

This one has the feel of Janice from the Muppets about her.  A cousin perhaps.

Today I will try and finish the other three and then clear the mess from all that rummaging!

I have a bit of a horrid week coming up which I am not looking forward to and then John is taking me Christmas shopping which I am looking forward to!  I hope you have a great week ahead!

.

Frustration!

John and I are both pulling our hair out with the internet.  Since the storm and the cables coming down we have really, really struggled to have any.  On a good day we're lucky to have a quarter of a meg but even that's gone most of the time now.  We had an engineer out who did all he could but nothing seems to have changed. He was just off to a job after us where someone has been complaining that they only have 10 meg and not the 20 supposedly offered.  I just want our quarter back, selfish people!!!!! To do this post I cajoled and pleaded with the router to just have a little patience.  Thank goodness the iPhone's give us a little bit of info but even the phone signal is rather iffy flitting between O nly if you're lucky and E very now and then.

Did I mention dissolvable paper in the last post??  I forget, it's such a long time ago and if I go and look for it I may not manage to come back!!  Well these are some the results.

I'm quite pleased and they are very fixable and stitch worthy too.  They started out, or became after dissolving and squishing, these and then I faffed about with paints and metallics.

I've made these two ladies as a gift for a very good friend.  Her DiL often comments that we're like a couple of hens nattering away so I thought they would be a bit of fun.

I've also been taking part in a class by Judy Skeel on Doll Street Dreamers and so far I've made this dodgy bunch.  I know a couple are a little strange but that's the nature of the beasts and practice will make then better if not perfect.  Costuming next, the best part!!!!

Today I staved off internet frustration with this little book.  Sorry the glare is a little horrid but there's part of an old map and some stamped text under the filigree piece. It's only 2 inches square.

 That's a little better.

And inside some tea stained paper with hand deckled edges.

And I had to show you a super cute photo of how Tully tends to lie down.  

I'm off the the Desire Fair at Winchester Guild Hall on Sunday so will probably come back buzzing with ideas. Have a great rest of the week, I will try and keep up with the flow with the phone at the very least! 

.

Latest Texturing Textiles

Abundant baby type creating has been going on, usual fair of cardies and blankets so I haven't been idle.  also loving Autumn as always especially now it's finally becoming colder. Some super soups and pumpkin cooking and fires every night.  

You may remember the layered pieces at the bottom of this post HERE.  Well I've travelled with them and stitched and layered and came home and put it through the embellisher and stitched a little more.

Finally it was stretched and mounted on an A4 panel and backed and these are the stones I wanted to display on it. All granite with a quartz vein running through that I levelled up.  Chris found most of them on beaches so I wanted the colours to be beachy and tidal.  I hope it comes across that way. 

Next pick up project has all these waiting for attention.  Silk sari fibres all smooched together with CMC paste.

Whilst clearing my desk a little I found these boots I made as samples for Cedric.  I was rather pleased with them so I thought I would show you!  (The squares are centimetres).

And why does this always happen?  Just another 3cm and a whole morning sewing would have been completed!

I have been playing a little with some dissolvable paper so we will see where that ends up next.  Also starting to have an itch to make something properly quilty again soon......

Have a great week!

.

This One Took a Little more Staging

This is Fenella in her cottage.  Not the best picture I know, I can never seem to manage the perspective of their big noses or the whiteness of the faces.

As well as her favourite crystal ball, cauldron and candle holder she has a few trinkets hanging around including gold blackthorn wands.

And all sorts on her shelves.  (This is why we spend months collecting 'stuff'!)

Lotions and potions and mysterious additives.

And even her own little Fae familiar.  If he looks a little red in the face it's because he's been tucking into that bottle of single malt whiskey that Elsa and Mike brought him back from Wales and he has another hidden behind his shell.  (His face is about the size of a 20 pence piece).

  

I'm really quite pleased with the whole set up.  

John also drove Elsa and I up to Ally Pally for the Knitting and Stitching show last week.  It was great to meet up with Dale and Ian again, so looking forward to next year with them!  I thought the whole show seemed a little more crammed in than previous years and didn't enjoy it as much.  In fact we totally gave up about half way around the main trading hall, we had done the first hall by then but we didn't do too much of the exhibitions, and the small hall was just too cramped and crowded.  I shot in to see Margaret Beal and shot out again. From reading other comments on line I'm not the only one who was a little uncomfortable.  

This Sunday we flew over to Dublin for a couple of days.  We are so fortunate in having Southampton Airport 45 minutes away with a great domestic airline in FlyBe.  Everything always seems to work well there and the aircraft all have enough room for John's rather long 35 inch legs.  Always a bonus! 

We had a trip up to Newgrange, the 5000 year old passage tomb.  It was bucketing down so I didn't risk the camera but you can see more about it HERE. I hope the weather is better for the solstice in December!  We also saw an exhibition by Leonora Carrington, a 1930's surrealist, at the Irish Museum of Modern Art.  We didn't think a lot of the rest of the exhibitions, a hung up piece of blue polyester fabric or a block of wood leaves me cold when it's classed as art, but each to their own. 

We also went to see the fantastic gates at Harlech House. 

Aren't they fantastic??? What an entrance.  Our guys work in metal at the factories so I'm just wondering if there's any way I can wangle something similar for our drive.... lol.

Thank you for the comments on the blog it's great reading them.  I do try to reply to you all direct but I have been a little busy lately.  I also see Diana LaFaro you are set to no reply so I can't answer you.  Thank you for your company over here though!!


.

It's Good to be Back Fiddling!

One of thing's I've been wanting to do for ages is use polymer clay.  As you know I've made with bronze and silver clay and I do love my little people so when I came across Dee Schiller on Facebook through Carol Douglas who I did a workshop with a few months ago I was over the moon.  

I first bought her book and then a couple of her Oddfae creations and then joined a Yahoo workshop she has to make her Shellfae.  And this is my little chap.  

I'm over the moon with him!  I don't think his head has cooled down enough yet as he hasn't told me his name, I'm sure he will in time.   *he now tells me his name is Douglas.  Must be a reference to his origins, see above!! *

I must just confess to going into overdrive at Michaels in New England, several of them actually, and one thing I did buy was polymer clays.  I contacted Dee to ask for the best colours as I didn't have her book with me and soon managed to find the right suff, some of which I'm not sure I can't find over here anyway.  It's quite a bit cheaper because of the tax differences but I didn't think of how it would all scan going through the airport. Anyway picture a rather large selection of metal findings and Tim Holtz items and quite a few large blocks of a dense plastic type material in an x-ray.  I did have a polite slip of paper in amongst it all when we arrived home.  Luckily I had packed sensibly and, other than a few socks, underwear was not present!  

.

A Whole New England

We've just spent a lovely couple of weeks over in New England with friends.  I haven't been to America before and John has only done Los Angeles and Arizona so it was something new.

We started on a bit of a back foot when there had been a fire at the fuelling depot in Logan Airport Boston.  Our flight was delayed 4 hours, a bit of a pain which meant we landed at 2am but the earlier flight had been cancelled altogether so we are grateful we flew at all.

Dawn from our hotel was pretty fabulous though.

We bought a Boston trolley pass each and did the usual touristy things.  Like the Cheers Bar...

 ...and USS Constitution.

Lunch in the Prudential Tower.  Great shopping mall underneath too. 

Another lunch in the oldest restaurant in America, the Union Oyster House.  Peter is taking a photo of the booth next to us which is known as the Kennedy Booth where JFK always insisted on eating as it gave him some privacy.  A long waiting list to sit there but there was a better view being next to it!

We then moved on the Kennebunkport for a couple of nights and then further into Lake Winnepesaukee.  Another good view to wake up to!

It was then across to Saratoga Springs and finally back to the coast and Cape Cod.

It was a great trip away but very much filled with too much food.  I don't know how they cope with so much at every meal!! lol  Back on the diet before Christmas.

Must now seriously get on with some creating!!!


.

Cedric Has Arrived!!

Finally!

This Little Person has a bit of a wanderlust about him.  Well I've certainly had trouble keeping up with him any way. 

As you can see by the wear on his furry boots!

 At least he has a good leather cloak and hood to keep him warm and dry.

But most of the time he just likes to feel the wind in his beard.

*Edit*  As Cedric is a bit of a wanderer I had to find him a staff.  Of course it has a guiding crystal on the top too.

.