Far Too Hot

Hasn't the weather been glorious?  But now a little too hot for me.  The thermometer we rely on for a consistant reading is in the north facing back porch in an airy out of the sun position.  When that reads 33C you know it's hot! Even the early morning dog walks have been at 22C, not good for them or me.  Lots of lazing around. I do keep trying to do bits but they soon get put aside.  I'm sure some of you are enjoying it but the House household is struggling a little!

We did have the village fete a couple of weekends ago and I picked up these three.

They are huge and rather heavy, especially the green one, to carry around for too long so that was my limit of purchases.  1963, '65 and '68 editions so quite interesting to flick through the demographics.  John can remember the Oxford one from school, I wasn't even born then. Some nice papers to add to something someday though.

I also have had another play at making some of the little books. Not quite as 'fluffy' this time, I wasn't sure about all the fabric in the last one.

Raw, as it were.

The small weights being very useful!

Left, Fairy Tales, is 2.5 x 3 inches and right, Wishes, is 2.5 x 2.5 inches.

 1.5 inches thick.

This has snippets of fairy tales in it...

 ...but also lost of blank pages to add drawings or stories.

 A slightly different spine treatment.

 And this time mostly filled with captured wishes instead.

Quite simple in the clasp and 2.25 inches thick. 

I hope you're coping with or enjoying the weather where you are! Have a great weekend.

A Christening

Yesterday was Olivia's Christening day at Salisbury Cathedral.  It was a lovely service and the choir sang beautifully.  The meal afterwards was really nice too and Olivia behaved impeccably.  She wore the gown her Daddy was christened in and some silk shoes I made for her.

Olivia with her Godmother Catherine, Dad and Mum, Godmother Elizabeth and Godfather Owen in front of the living water font.

Have a lovely week.


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Now What's Next...?

This week I have actually been using a sketchbook!  I know we are all supposed to be excited by using sketchbooks and keep copious amounts of them but they have never been my thing. I have a few that are more like scrapbooks but very few, apart from the C&G ones, that are actually filled with my dabblings and experiments.  I'm more your hands on kind of girl.  But I have now opened a new one and used it!  

I have been collecting a few motifs and ideas and making stamps.

I've then pulled a few prints off my gelli plate (something I'm very new at and still not too sure about) and added them to a pile of my fancy fabrics.

There are also a few bits going on with the experimental emblems department,

There is something fluttering around in my head that keeps knocking to come out.  Trouble is when I give it the opportunity it runs hiding at the back there somewhere again!  Anyone else have this problem?  Thoughts are just to keep fiddling about and hopefully it will be encouraged forth.

I'm having huge trouble with my keyboards at the moment.  The silly, tiddly thing that came with the Mac likes to put in extra symbols when it feels like it and the larger one I bought (the one with the delete button and proper number pad, I do finances for goodness sake and you can not calculate with numbers when they are in a line!) has the idea I need to capitalise everything every now and then.  It's favorite letters for turning this on are S, W and P at the moment but that changes at will.  Apologies for any un noticed typing booboos.

If you follow me on Faceache you will know about our latest neighbours, the Blackbirds.  We are lucky to have dozens of bird nests, high thick hedges and a large feeding station has encouraged them in.  That and John's ability to manically shoo away any predators like cats and rooks.  These Blackbirds have decided to nest outside the backdoor.

Last week on 1st July I waited patiently for mum and dad to leave, have a good zoom on the little point and shoot and took a quick photo.

On Thursday we found one of the babies in the garden, probably the little one you can see to the bottom right of the picture which didn't react to the possibility of food coming its way.  We suppose the siblings edged it out and one of the dogs found it.

Yesterday there was a lot of Blackbird scolding going on and we couldn't see any cats but the the Sparrowhawk shot through and John thinks it caught something.  We patiently waited to do a beak count and were quite relieved to see mum and dad come back to the nest.  There is still possibly a nest somewhere that has one parent down but it's not our little neighbours! And we love the Sparrowhawk too.

Today's quick snapshot of the two babies.  They are very vocal now and don't react the same way to our presence anymore.  Like the Robins earlier in the year we made the decision to carry on as normal and they would become used to us, which they have.  I think I will be keeping a close eye on them over the next week and being careful when the dogs go out though.

We have the F1 and the tennis finals and Olivia will round off the weekend by being christened so lots to look forward to.  Have a great one yourselves!

*Edit*
About 12.40 today they flew.  So far so good.  We can hear them but don't want to poke around too much to find them.  Mum and dad are still about feeding.  Fingers crossed for their onward journey. Aren't nests amazing?!

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Chalkland Flowers

Just a skim through what I've created this week. It's a commission of local wildflowers.

First was the layering.  Lots of open weaves in very neutrals stitched down with free motion.

Then I let Bob strut his stuff and embroider the flower names on the panel.  I don't use this machine often enough really and it was quite a learning curve remembering.  What would we do without the internet!

Afterwards I had a bit of free motion embroidery to do.  I enjoy this.  I will enjoy it more when Bob learns to thread himself every time I want to change colour.  Four different greens in these stems!

And all four done on the panel.

I was asked a couple of times at the Open Studio how do I make my work so flat.  I dampen it, stretch it out and leave it to do it's stuff!! And every piece is treated the same.  Obviously the media used can dictate the water content from a thorough washing to no water at all just the pinning and stretching but they all have time to be put into their shape and relax into it.  I was also asked five different times if I could do workshops, weeeeeeeellllll, I don't really have a lot to tell apart from things most people already know or things like this. And the few times I have taught it has petrified me so much I've been ill!  Daft I know but that's just me.

And finally the pieces mounted.  They are on 10 x 8 inch canvas panels.

I sprayed up some Khadi paper to compliment the flowers and tore the edges on a deckle ruler which, much to my surprise, gave them a lovely white contrast edge.  Quite pleased with them, I hope the recipient is too.

A little bit on the wildlife front this week.  Monday just as we were going to bed John found a HummingBird Hawk moth buzzing around the lounge.  There have been a couple in the garden but it was a surprise to find one inside.  After a bit of a chase and clambering about we managed to capture it and set it free.

And last night we had another bat fly in.  No photos this time but once we'd opened another few windows and doors it eventually found it's way out too.

I hope you all have a good week ahead!

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Back to School

At the beginning of the year I signed up for an online class with Luthien Thye on Artful Gathering.  It began at the start of the month and it was just the thing I needed after the Art Weeks.  Creating with most of the thinking already done.  

She used a couple of things I haven't used in my books before, polyclay and stamps, which was my main reason for wanting to do it.  

As well as new ways with the polyclay I also found out that though I am a prolific coffee drinker, sadly decaf nowadays, I really don't enjoy the smell of it when used as a stain! Back to tea next time. 

The additions were fun and quirky and the metalwork a nice way to finish off.   I can definitely take some of the things learned further.

I have also been trying to perfect the glass and I think I am making progress! 

The picture on the left is of the first batch which were better and the ones on the right the second which were even more improved.  Top blue black set already sold as buttons for a velvet jacket from a Art Weeks comission.

I am often using items to weigh things down in the studio, things that need to rest to stay (like the rather curved pages in the book above!) or for glue to set for example.  I most often use a couple of house bricks I have covered in felt.  Quite large and cumbersome so I have been looking for a nice set of kitchen weights for a while and finally found this lot on eBay.

They were taken into the factory for a bit of blasting (don't nag me about the rust dying potential!  I want to use them!!)

And John gave them a nice coat of paint.

They are a great size, the 4lb sits nicely in the palm of my hand and should just about cover all the jobs I need them for.

And yesterday John and I were major Grandparental Units!  Elsa had arranged a surprise spa visit and lunch for Mike for his birthday and we had the honour of babysitting Olivia.  A bit nervous as it was our first virtually full day but there were no tears and I think everyone had a nice time.

Happy birthday Mike!

Have a wonderful week ahead!


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Phew!!!

Hellooooo!!! I'm back!!! Wow what a month that was.  The Dorset Art Weeks is now over and I think I've just about found my feet again.

There were a few scary moments at the beginning mostly to do with us being new at this sort of thing and not sure of what we were doing or if anyone would turn up!  The chapel was an interesting place to use, lots of seating should you need it and nowhere to hang anything.

It was also very cold and damp, it is over 900 years old after all, but we soon chased that away.  Jan also lives in a church so has hardly any vertical walls but she does have plenty of easels to display paintings on thank goodness.

To start with I think we didn't quite know how to approach things, which is daft as we've both been visitors to these events, where Jan was willing to dive right in and chat to people I held back as I'm really quite shy.  By the last week we were both so good at it you would have thought we'd done it for years!

These photos I took on my phone when I remembered to as we were setting up.  You can see how we put boards across the pews.  We also had three services while we were there but we could leave enough pews uncovered for them to use as there is usually only about 10 people attending.  Except the last Sunday when some others arrived and four extras turned up as they had been to see our exhibition and loved the chapel so much and, as one was a retired vicar, decided to come back.  It was rather crowed then but our vicar Mel was delighted!

There was quiet a lot of tweaking as we went along and, of course, as things sold.  Yes we had quite a few visitors, well over 200, and the visitors books had some really lovely comments in them.

Though the chapel isn't far from home I did miss John, the dogs, the garden and very much missed my studio! In the quiet times having access to that would have been wonderful.  We both did take things to do but it's not the same.

Will I do it again?  Most certainly! And I would do it from home next time too.

A lot of work went into producing enough items to show and I'm glad that the Dorset Art Weeks is every other year.  I'm not sure I could cope with it yearly!

On the last saturday there was a big BBQ at Sculpture by the Lakes, the gorgeous home and garden of Simon and Monique Gudgeon.

Plenty of people to chat too and places to take a stroll.

Views through the garden and statues beautifully placed.

Cedric!! What are you doing there in such illustrious company!!

Yes Cedric was sold and has moved on but not without a last farewell and a meet with his brother in beards Martyn.

There are still bits to put away and commissions to complete and I have a book full of lovely comments to remind me what lovely people we met.  If you were one of those people, thank you for taking the time to come and see us.  I was convinced I wouldn't sell much but the majority of things I was going to put on Esty did go, I made quite a bit for the Combat Stress and Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance charities and I'm over the moon.

Finally a hello to a few new followers on here!!  I'm glad you found me.  Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly!

Have a great weekend.



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