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....

Travel - Being Creative

One of the things I love about the Being Creative experience is hopping around worldwide spaces to see how other wonderfully creative people have interpreted the theme. I am always inspired, amazed and  prompted to think about what I do. The comments people leave on each others posts are so positive and  supportive, as are Julia's e-mails and posts.

This month I thought laterally about the theme... my mind travelling all over the place...wandering too randomly to record, but always returning to something safe,  that could have been made from felt. However, as I like to experiment a little for Being Creative I travelled a different path...

I have been mulling over the idea of books for a while...I love viewing Love and Peas* colourful and vibrant creative journals and Starfish Studio's blog has featured a wonderful handmade book  - something to aspire to!

Whilst popping over to Kaite's blog last month I followed her link to make  a cut and fold mini book ..which is what I did for this months theme of travel.

I made a small book and recorded the journeys made in our car on our recent holiday in the North East of England! Simple, but a quick reminder of some of our travels this year.

 

I'm looking forward to the next theme of autumn...all those beautiful colours and shades....

Flowers inside and out!

For my birthday, in the spring, I had some Dahlias to plant. It was a mixed bag and if the leaf shapes and sizes are anything to go by there will be many different blooms!

This is the first to flower:

Looking forward to some more colourful flowers over the summer!

Talking of which...here's one I prepared earlier!

...a little random wooliness for a friend's birthday.....

...needlefelted onto a commercallyproduced bag using Rowan Biggy Print.

I'm hoping one day I'll be needlefelting onto my own wet felted items........

Collaborating!

Collaborate: to work with someone else for a special purpose

Cambridge Dictionaries online                           

I have had great pleasure in passing on a piece of random wooliness to a friend

for her to ponder upon!

As I don't want to add extra pressure to her cogitating I won't reveal the entire picture but here's a couple of secretive snippets!

Things are a bit quiet on the production front - I've got lots of creative ideas swimming around but as its holiday time they will remain in the pool until there's chance to get woolly!

Hope you are all having some happy times in the summer sun!

Something Peaceful

Following events over the last few days I felt the need for something peaceful.....

Hope you are all keeping safe...

x

Being Creative - Summer

I think this post should have the subtitle of: Learning to leisurely stroll before you can run!

The thoughts, as usual, for this months Being Creative topic have been whirring away at speed for more than a month... I think the process of this creation is just as important as the final result..so please bear with me!!

Following a comment I made on someone's lovely ocean creation last month I began thinking about the composition of most of my projects... I like to make things colourful, bright, cheerful and warm....things that I suppose other people would like to look at...the fish I make are orange, the sea, blue....and I do know from holiday photos on people's blogs it can be beautifully blue...but its not always!

So I decided I should be a bit more realistic in my choice of subject matter for summer.....

I still thought of flowers...poppies.... but where they grow....on waste ground or by the roadside....

after a motorway journey last week observing the roadside flora (and what an amazing array there is..such a positive and pretty colour pallette bordering the ribbon of tarmac)..I picked Rosebay Willowherb...(for the picture -  in my head - not on the hard shoulder)

In the true spirit of Being Creative I decided to try something new and out of my comfort zone...

I enthusiastically ripped the plastic off a new set of watercolour pencils and opened the watercolour sketchbook with trepidation! (Yes, it was a mixture of emotions!!)

I began with a few sketch ideas to get a feel of the media, and the dived in headfirst!!

That's the point where I especially should have strolled....

As a first attempt I'm quite pleased..it certainly ticks the 'I've tried something different' box

and it has reminded me of some other factors:  I like to race with the wind in my hair before I have even taken a few wobbly steps; I'd love the finished article on paper  to look identical to the beautiful image in my head; I am so enthusiastic to keep the momentum going I power onto the next stage before the last one dries; I am aware of the benefits of relaxation and going with the flow; I am still trying to disguise all my 'could try harder's into positives!

It looks a bit more peaceful country garden than gritty roadside ...but again...thats what makes me appreciate even more the talents of people who can make a picture look like how they had imagined it to be, or what the viewer would like to see!

I have enjoyed this whole process once again, Thank you to Julia for the inspirational topics and to all the wonderful comments  that flutter across the ether and land here. Its so great to be able to share everyone's creations.

I will leave you with one of my rough sketches which, because I was still fairly relaxed, turned out more like what I had in my head than the real thing!