Blooming Beautiful!

I had a beautifully scented surprise through the post from my wonderful friend Tracey....

Lots of tiny perfect blooms

They are so bright and cheerful - a real reminder of spring!

(The packaging was pretty cool too - they arrived in tip top condition!)

Thank you Tracey x

Hoping you all have lots of bright moments in the Christmas season!

Skein of Green!

Earlier this year, when something clicked and I began to crochet, my wonderfully woolly and creative friend Tracey sent me a bulging box of goodies...

The blue at the back became a granny TARDIS, the red has been used successfully for my heart pattern which I am yet to reveal, the pinky colours were transformed into one of Tracey's gift bags and the blue on the top has found its way into a few Kaldred patterns. 

The green at the bottom was a wonderfully soft 150g skein of superwash merino.

I knew it would come into its own for Christmas..I had thoughts of Christmas trees, holly leaves, and mistletoe. I did use a little before I began on Christmas projects...

however these were tiny bits as I have great difficulty winding from a hank to a ball! Even the smallest skein gets a bit knotted and ravelled despite my best attempts to keep it smooth 

and its me that keeps getting wound up!

Whilst winding the green skein I ended up with an extremely distorted knotted green mess of 750m of yarn resembling a giant clump of  spongy moss!

My mum is hugely creative and thankfully patient...she likes methodical mathematical crafts, her lace is incredibly detailed - and takes hours of dedication. She took away the wodge of wool, patiently unravelled, untwisted and wound it into this huge ball of single stranded several hued green loveliness!

The tiny bit on the top was the only casualty of the long length -  and that was the cut I had made in anger to find an end to wind!

I have been hooking frantically but therapeutically with what I thought was a never-ending supply of Christmas coloured softness. I abandoned all the patterns I favourited on Ravelry in favour of the humble granny square and have made this portly pile.....

Not for a blanket, or a bag...but all will be revealed nearer Christmas!

The squares don't have to be neat for this project!

 

My supplies are satisfyingly dwindling..

 

and the ball has shrunk considerably....

 A couple of weekends ago Tracey and I met up in Brum for the second time in more than 20 years - it was so great to see her again, chat, reminisce and introduce her to Mr RW and RW Jnr! 

 She received one of the transformed granny squares.

This post is to say Thank you over the years to Tracey for her continued friendship, supplies and inspiration and to Mum for her oodles of patience...

x

Woolfest Swap

I really enjoy sharing Woolfest with lots of fibre loving bloggers and facebook fibre fans...the anticipation of crafters going to browse and buy,...the frenetic activity of sellers meeting the deadline for production...and then the wonderful photos of vibrant and textured purchases bought in all shapes and sizes, woolly wildlife,  tales of friends meeting...followed by plans for the purchases and final reveals! This year there was the added excitement of torrential rain in Cokermouth and its surrounds.

The power of the internet makes me feel involved even though I wasn't there!

Tracey over at Baking and Making organised a Woolfest swap this year...where one person who was going to Woolfest bought something for someone that wasn't. In return their partner would send something as Tracey said 'to brighten someone's day'!

My swap partner is Anne who writes  Frayed at the Edge, she sent me the most wonderful parcel:

...containing two exciting packages with pretty polka dot ribbon!

The Red Cross notelets reminded me of embroidery on tablecloths that my mum has.

Anne kindly sent some wonderfully squidgy and colourful felt pieces and some vibrant Masham curls from Woolfest

and some lovely creations from her studio including this frayed at the edge lavender heart (it's resting on one of the colourful nuno felt patches from Woolfest)

Anne's blog is full of beautiful photos of her surroundings, and creations. I really love the way she is able to take an ordinary subject and make it beautiful, as you can see in the notecards she enclosed in her studio parcel:

I sent:

..a needlefelted cake..Anne regularly has mouthwatering photos of cakes on her blog..

a cotton crochet flower from Tracey's pattern and a double sided butterfly with a needlefelted middle!

As Anne sews so beautifully I wrapped the parcel in some fabric...the patterned piece from our old sofa and the shiny purple from a favourite blouse (that no longer fits!). I am hoping she enjoys making something with it  - as I find incorporating bits I am given so inspiring!

I'd like to say a big Thank you to Tracey for organising the swap and to Anne  - its great to see and feel other's inspiring felt, my lavender bag is put to good use and I'll be using the cards soon. Some of the beautiful Masham fleece has already been incorporated into a piece of wet felt...

YAY! Yes, you have read that bit right..I've finally had the chance to play with the soap and fibres...

more of that in another post when we have some picture taking weather!

Looks like a weekend for staying in and being creative...hope you all have a good one!

Ali x

PS Tracey has had quite a few commissions for publications recently including a fab Boho scarf in Craftseller Magazine number 13

More firsts!

How exciting! I have been awarded a Versatile Blogger Award by Carrad over at Faded Reverie. Carrad is lady of many crafty talents  -  I'd like to thank her for the award and making the days she posts that bit more colourful!

I gather the instructions are as follows:

a. Pass the Award on to fifteen recently-discovered blogs of your own.

b. List seven facts about yourself, and

c. Thank the awarder.

I seem to have started this in reverse..so I will continue that way!

Carrad listed seven 'Firsts'  from her childhood and that got me thinking about 'firsts' so here are seven of my 'firsts':

The first poster on my bedroom wall was of  Donny Osmond sporting a maroon cap and a toothy smile!

My first part in a school play that I can recall was as a tree - and I been a wooden actress ever since!!

I got my first pair of glasses after my 40th birthday.

On the first morning that I stayed at my Grandma and Granda's house I was woken by the sound of an approaching rattling cup and saucer - I was given a very weak cup of tea containing a couple of spoonfuls of rainbow sugar crystals!

I have just completed my first week crocheting (have I mentioned that exciting fact before?!)

I followed my first felt bowl tutorial from Liz, my first  blog comment was from Becky, Melody is my first blog buddy from the USA, I won my first giveaway from Sarah, Kate is the first person I know who runs two blogs singlehandedly, Jenny is the first person I have seen to embroider spectacles! and Tracey is the person who inspired me to make my first post!

....and my last first is that this is the first anniversary of my first post!!

So I'd like to pass the award on to three bloggers I have found recently:

Flaming Nora

Emma Varnam

Lynne's Knits

and one who's a little less recent

Creative Chaos Art 

Helen has lots of creative strings to her bow and her birthday cake was incredible!

 I am aware that some bloggers are uncomfortable with the accepting and passing on of awards, so if I have included you on the list I will not be offended if you choose to ignore it.

My intention in mentioning your blog is to  to say how much I look forward to your updates and all your creative inventions!

Reflecting on my first year of blogging I have really enjoyed reading lots of people's experiments, exploits, tips, and stories and have been inspired by the beautiful pictures, illustrations, photos and items people have designed and made.

Some blogs I love for their writing style and content - Linnhe you really make me smile, and think!

I'd like to finish by saying a massive thank you to all my bloggy friends for your comments, inspiration and support. Also another massive thank you to all my other followers who comment so positively when they see me!

Here's to another fun bloggy year and some posts with a few more pictures!!

x

Snail Mail Holiday Swap

I've been really excited about the Snail Mail Holiday Swap hosted by Tracey and Emma - the planning, cyber-meeting, making, posting, waiting and receiving! 

My partner is  Jay and I am amazed how she is able to make such fantastic goodies, participate in festive events and meet her essay deadlines!

This week 2 almost identical squidgy packages arrived, they were nearly the same but one jingled when shaken!

Inside such temptingly squashy parcels....

 Perfect mini festive stockings..in my team's home colours!

Mr Hedgehog...complete with cuddly red scarf. We captured on video a wandering hedgehog meandering across our frozen lawn last winter leaving a spiky trail...so now we have a much softer and warmer reminder!

 

Mr Penguin - the source of the jingling on his lovely looooooong striped headwear!

 

This little girl reminds me of my younger days - her hat is fab - its so long I'm sure she could sit on it! I had knitted hats as a child too - but not of this magnificence!

Jay has obviously spent lots of time with her yarn and needles creating such cute and intricate Christmas goodies.

Whilst not wishing to detract from the swap... our tree (chosen brilliantly by RW Jnr) has  these cool candle like protuberances on the top branches - we think they're quite effective!

I'd like to say a big thank you to Tracey and Emma for the swap hosting and admin, and a huge, hot chocolate flavoured, cup cake sweetened, woolly warming thank you to Jay for your e-mails, inspiring ideas and wonderful woolly creations!

I have several ideas to try in the new year thanks to Jay!

Swapping has been really fun!

Collaborating - The Return...

At the beginning of the summer holidays a friend and I agreed to share some of our creativity and use it to inspire each other - I was really excited by this, as I love what she does. 

There were a couple of sneaky peeks at the piece of felt I gave her here.

Just before I went on holiday I received her wonderful work....and here it is, accompanied by a full view of the random wooliness:

The Return

Foamy surf, the blue-green ebb and flow of life on earth,

The never-ending motion of the pull against

The yellow sky, not a sunset, almost ominous,

Sulphurous, a backdrop for shadows.

 

A lumbering bulk, clumsy on land, hulking

Against the sandy vastness.

A silent, indistinct almost formless something,

Moving into the rhythm of sea.

At last, in the smooth depths, dugong-like,

Strange grace from great weight; waves lift and caress,

Silver threads weaving in and out of cerulean space,

Bubbles rising to the surface.

Finally, sunset comes, the shepherd’s sky,

A promise of good, and on the shore,

A perfect footprint, as big, as deep as a turtle’s laying nest,

Not formless, not indistinct.

 

I love Karen's poem, I have read it many times and find new depths.

The most amazing aspect of the collaboration has been how the image has been interpreted.

After I had read and commented on her poem Karen shared some of her thought processes. 

The piece of felt had been made with the sand at the bottom and I had intended the dark form as a footprint...but Karen had looked at it the other way up and revealed a shadowy figure....how fantastic!

After my initial reading of the poem I realised this, but found it hard to see 'him' and a tryptich came to mind..(Picture of a figure with yellow sky and sea below; watery scene with smoothly swimming whale form and bubbles; and the existing image as a footprint  on the sand) 

However as I re-read the words and gazed at the picture the figure lumbered into view ...

I could see 'him'! I felt quite emotional!

So I have used the same image both ways up to accompany the poem, I hope you can see him too!

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Karen and she has sent me some more of her amazing writing. 

I hope to make something in response to some of her powerful work and I have an idea for another piece of wooliness to prompt some more creative writing....

Thank you Karen...may this be the first of many creative collaborations!

Seven things about me!

One of the other exciting things that greeted me on return from my holiday was a blog award from Tracey over at baking and making. I'd like to say a huge thank you to Tracey, not only for the award but for such an inspiring blog about her homecrafted goodies and simple lifestyle philosophy.

This really does look irresistibly sweet with all those amazingly succulent looking strawberries!

In accepting the award I am to tell you seven things about myself...so here goes;

Most of my qualifications are science based..but theycertainly do not include domestic science!

A few people (including Tracey and Melody) know this one.... as a child I collected mice...the crafted not the live kind! The entire collection now sits in my wardrobe housed in fabulous 70s shoe boxes. However they will be introduced to you all at sometime ..so watch this space!

As a small girl I shook hands with footballer Nobby Stiles..who was at the time playing for the local team (Boro) and England!

My drink of choice is black coffee or if  I'm out at night a pint of bitter

I'm an early 80s girl at heart and can usually identify an intro before the lyrics kick in..however as I have increased in age I find myself becoming nostalgic for the late 70s disco hits, and mellow tunes...

As a Brownie Guide I fell off a chair immediately before taking my Safety in the Home badge.

I love yorkshire puddings...the best were made by my grandad, served as a starter, the size of the plate covered in steaming gravy.... but chocolate, in any form, is my most favourite food choice!


Also as part of the award I am to pass it onto 7 others....
I am aware that some bloggers are uncomfortable with the accepting and passing on of awards, so if I have included you on the list I will not be offended if you choose to ignore it.
My intention in mentioning your blog is to introduce others to your wonderful creativity and to say how much I look forward to your updates..and big thank yous for your friendly and supportive comments!

So in no particular order (except alphabetical):

Love and Peas*;
Jenny's vibrant colourful and exciting creations and posts are really cheerful, full of detail, charm and character!

Melody Lorraine;
I discovered Melody and her colourful little animals (real, handmade and illustrated!) via the Being Creative project. I love her storytelling, writing style and her characterful paintings and musings from across the pond.

Starfish Studio
This blog is full of lots of  crafty and arty projects, 
 colour, talent and texture.. lots of techniques have been tried in this little corner of Scotland!

That Fuzzy Feeling;
Liz makes the most wonderful wet and needlefelted items, and has recently started cultivating her own allotment. I love her beautiful photographs of her creations and garden.

The Fluff Pot;
I have waxed lyrical about Becky's blog here and I think she may be excused the 7 things about me part as I know she has done this several times recently..but I haven't seen any strawberries on her awards yet...

The Gingerbread Bunny
Sarah has a lovely chatty blog...she has turned her hand to lots of crafts..and been in print!!

wee mindings
Linnhe Mara makes the most wonderful bags and lots of other things besides. I love her witty writing and musings...on lots of subjects I can identify with. Hers is one of three Scottish blogs on the list!


Hope you have as much fun as I have visiting these irresistible blogs... happy hopping!

OOh - How exciting!!!

I think  this title could be used lots of  times over the next few posts!

I returned from holiday to two fantastic pieces of Bloggy news, two collaborative projects have borne fruit and there are lots of  lovely holiday pictures to share.....

so this is the first of a series of  posts I hope you find as exciting as I do!

Where so I start? 

Becky at The Fluff Pot recently held a very generous giveaway to celebrate reaching 50 followers, (since then she has amassed another 24!) Becky began blogging just before I did, she was the first to leave a comment on my blog and has left regular positive and friendly messages since!  Her blog is full of colour, inspiring images and tips. She has turned her hands to lots of crafty creations and its a joy to read all about them, and her beautiful garden.

Imagine my surprise and delight to find out that I had won her fantabulously fluffy feast of goodies.

One day last week, around lunchtime a parcel arrived ....Random Wooliness Junior and his one of his friends were spending the last day of holiday freedom at ours and were immediately mesmerised by the box of treasures.

I managed to get them to wait whilst I photographed the perfectly presented purple packages....

and the sparkly colourful gift boxes...

Just then the sun came out and we took the everything out in the garden to open..

like Christmas in the sun!

It was fantastic to see the lads choosing which shaped package to open next and hearing their descriptions of the contents,  they were so enthusiastic about the colours, textures and shapes. 

One spent time stroking the bright wool tops (each coloured ball was given a name!) the other was very appreciative of the jewellery wrap, its colours and the beautiful button which was examined carefully. The acorns proved to be a real winner - they loved the concept and I loved all the colour combinations and shiny patches.We all marvelled at the amazing autumn leaf vessel with the coppery  wire veins.

The heart pin cushion was given a good squidge by us all and we chose our favourite coloured pins and cotton...the boys were amazed at the hearts that came from the butterfly wings and suggested uses for the colourful card decorations.

We chirped noisily about the bird brooch and watched the necklace shine and twinkle in in the sun. The rose is so delicate..both in colour and texture.

I'd like to say a huge thank you to Becky not only for sharing her talented work (its great being able to view  and feel some of her bloggy items up close!) but for enabling me to hear those two chaps being so enthusiastic about such creative items!

Thanks for all the lovely comments on the announcement too.

Becky has a Folksy shop, her handcrafted items are really well made and feel fabulously fluffy!!

I think the acorns and autumn leaf will be beautifying our lounge soon,
although it feels autumnal today I'm still clinging to summer....

This is Birmingham

Another of my click to see the hidden pictures posts!!

Just over a year ago we met Jan Bowman a talented travelled artist currently living in colourful Brum, when we bought a copy of her book This is Birmingham in a pop-up art and craft shop. 

The book is fantastic - I loved spotting all the familiar sights of Brum and reading up on the not so well known places, people and history. The language and word choice are great. The illustrations are thought provoking, vibrant and full of interesting, quirky details. Above all it makes me proud to live in such a historic, colourful, diverse, forward thinking and friendly city!

The book is being reprinted and theres a brill trailer video to view in the meantime!

We have one of Jan's prints adorning our wall too - its entitled Hidden Gem at Tyseley and is of our local 'Energy Recovery Facility' ie the tip - rather glamourously living up to its title!

Jan also illustrated the cover of one of my favouite books What Was Lost  by Catherine O'Flynn.

Thank you Jan for showing how vibrant Birmingham is... amongst many other things!!

 

What a surprise!!

I recently recieved a shiny purple package from Sarah at The Gingerbread Bunny.

I was really excited to have won her recent giveaway...and here it is:

...a beautiful hand made red journal  pouch

with an amazing elephant button detail!

I found Sarah's blog through the Being Creative dessert post..

she creates handmade items, cards and partcipates in art journaling too.

I keep my ideas sketch book and my pink book underneath the settee where I sit, so I can (lazily or) handily access them at anytime - otherwise I would not get round to jotting in them.

As they are so well used they are beginning to get a bit furled round the corners when they slide between the settee and the floor...not any more though, secure in their new pouch!

Thank you to Sarah for your generous and very useful giveaway.

I have been working on  May's Being Creative project on the subject of Home ...the ideas have been on paper for a couple of weeks and today I got them onto the floor!!

It includes some of this but its well hidden......!

All will be revealed later in the month!

First Felting 2.... and 2 BIG Thank yous!

When I first expressed an interest in needlefelting I was really lucky to be shown how to do it  by Sarah Hazell. Sarah is a really creative and multi-talented wonder with wool! Not only did she give encouragement but she gave me a bundle of fluff and short ends of yarns to play with. This gave me the opportunity to experiment and work out what else I would like to try.

...an early autumn leaf...

Sarah leads varied workshops around the country including some  successful crochet sessions at Fibre and Clay, attended by  Tracey, a friend of mine...small world!

Tracey is another woolly wonder...knitting and crocheting are amongst her many talents.

She often sends me squidgy parcels of her colourful, soft and woolly short ends:

I have used some on in my mug cosies, and the case for my cup cake...

I have some more ideas up my sleeve for some of  those lovely colours and textures.

I would like to say one BIG thank you to Sarah for starting me off  

(perhaps Tracey you could pass it on when you next see her!)

and my second BIG thank you to Tracey for keeping me going...

As Tracey has commented twice now about her interest in having a stab at needlefelting herself ....

there's a parcel of fluff in the post! x

First Felting 1 ...and one BIG Thank you!

This is the first of two posts about my early forays into felting!  I have been meaning to share some of my early pieces...most of which were 2d....and now seems to be a good time...as the second post will reveal!

Lots of my early creations were made by needlefelting multicoloured yarn onto felt, like the pinky flowers (Debbie Bliss SoHo yarn); snails (Sirdar Bigga); and the Christmas tree (onto sparkly felt). The top white flower was a silkier top. The bright pink and reddy blooms were free felted not backed onto commercial felt. There's a lot of  silk and pinky purply throwsters waste around too.
Wensleydale curls adorn the robins!

This commercially produced mat is quite thick and was fairly tricky to felt onto, but has been well used! There's a combination of yarns, tops and silks. This is placemat sized and I did a pink table runner sized one which has been used as a wall hanging.
This mat sits on a beautiful 60s ercol coffee table which recently had 2 full steaming cups of coffee splashed over it. Much to the spiller's surprise the table was virtually unharmed as the mat had soaked up the hot liquid. After a quick cold rinse the mat was as good as new!
Its been good to look back at early pieces, to be reminded of where I started and how some of my techniques have developed.
I no longer have any of these items as they have all been given away, so I must say a HUGE Thank you to my mum who valued my my initial creations and had the foresight to photograph them (and know where to find the photo a few years later) .
........to be continued......

Happy Mum!

I have had a fantastic Mothering Sunday, Mum really liked her flowery gift and card and my son has been super creative!

He chose these beautiful blooms with his dad yesterday.

We have always made cards at home for each other and he made another fab comic one with his own illustrations. It is lovely to see his humour and drawing skills developing year by year. 

He has spent some time this week at 2 friends houses and made something at each!

This is the most amazing chocolate cake, complete with chocolate hearts, sprinkles and edible flowers...it smells delicious and tastes fabulous! Huge Thanks to his friend who helped to make it and her wonderful mum who put it in and out of the oven!!

 This beautiful glass heart has been shining brightly in the window all day (even though we have had big grey cloudy moments!) and has cast purpley shadows across the lounge. Massive Thanks to his friend and his super creative family for giving our chap his first opportunity at glass making, he really enjoyed it.

I am really proud of our son and his great friends (and very helpful and generous mums!)

Happy Mothering Sunday Mum!

This crocus was always destined to be a Mothering Sunday card!

I am proud to have a creative mum, 

from whom I have learned many creative things, and  receive much encouragement

Thanks Mum!

For my mum: a needlefelted Daffodil....(debrief and details in another post!!)

OOh a blog award!

This has been a busy week...creating and cogitating! 

As a new blogger I am still trying to get the balance right with posting, commenting and sharing!

I was excited to receive a Liebster blog award from Becky at The Fuff Pot this week. Her nomination description was very thoughtful, and accurate, as a new blogger I have found her comments on my posts positive, helpful and  friendly! So, Thank you Becky!

I gather that I have to accept and display the award and pass it on to other bloggers with less than 100 followers. 

One of the reasons I began blogging was to acknowledge some of the people who inspired me to do so.. so here's a chance to say a huge thank you to Tracey at  I made it!  .  Tracey has 2 blogs but its this crafty one that I love!  I am always uplifted by her posts and admire her  creativity and skills at traditional homely crafts, baking and gardening. We have lots in common and go back a long way!! Keep up the great work Tracey! 

My other nomination is another blogger with 2 blogs...one of which I am already a daily reader, although its really new.. Johnshaven a photo a day ..from Starfish Studio gives daily photos of an Aberdeenshire Village.

It gives me a chance to slow down, reflect and indulge in many beautiful images...some of them of the sea...which I do miss here in the Midlands!

So Thank you and please keep up your photo diary (I appreciate how much work goes into it!!) I love it!

Thanks for all your friendly comments too.

I would like to also 'big up' Liz at That Fuzzy Feeling who received the award at the same time as I did..I'm a big fan of all her creations and have learned a lot from her friendly posts and comments. Thanks Liz.

I hope to keep blogging, being inspired and challenged by other bloggers so once again:

Thanks to you all so far and keep up the great creating!

Ali x