Texture Tuesday

This week the theme is  Love  on Texture Tuesday. I decided avoid the usual pink and red (lovely as it is) and see what else I could find.....

....a vintage glass bottle, some hydrangea skeletons, tiny poppy seedheads plus a metal tag.

I used Kim Klassen's black texture 'Wonderful magic_scripted' (screen. 55% opacity),  plus '99'...a cream texture (soft light).

Brian and I have always celebrated Valentine's Day...cards, presents, a special meal. Don't suppose we'll ever stop...... I'll maybe make a card this year with this image.

I love this tiny heart from Kim's 'Vines and Lines' brush collection.

Before and after.....

Back on Friday with an update on my new collage plus 'Friday Finds'.

Hope you're having a   lovely   week........... :-)

Friday Finds

This is my contribution to Kim Klassen's 'Friday Finds', which I am going to try and join in with on a regular basis.  I used Kim's 'Magic Scripted' texture on my photo, plus one of her affirmation brushes.......a great quote and even more appropriate as the flower has a flaw on one of the petals.

I decided to make a start on my garden journal yesterday.....which meant photographing the garden at its 'winter worst', in order to appreciate the beauty later on ;-)
I had a lovely surprise though when I found the hellebore flowering amongst all the duller stuff.
I remember buying it last year; an unimpressive stem with four leaves which the nursery owner assured me would become a wonderful plant.  Well he was right.....

I printed out a few sizes of the digitally altered photo and spent a happy half hour sorting through my collage boxes to find matching materials for a collage (or two).

Angel was on hand to give advice....

So at last I am going to start sticking and stitching!! Its been a long time.......

And there's more.....

Maggi and I had a great day at the Festival of Quilts on Saturday - the time flew by and I wondered if I would get to see everything, but we did really well and even managed to meet up with Julie and Angela for lunch and a natter.
If you visit Julie's and Maggi's blog you'll see a selection of beautiful quilts.........here are some of my favourites:

Detail from 'Drawn by the Sea' - Sarah-Jane Dixon

'Graceful Dance' -  Janneke de Vries-Bodzinga, the winner of the pictorial quilts section,
Incredibly beautiful.....click for a close-up.

'Jazz Dots' - Cecilia Gonzalez Desedemas

'Eye of the Storm' - Sarah Welsby

'Between the Sheets' - Jacqui Parkinson

'Britain - what it means to you' - Terry Donalson

Detail

'Golden Days - Janina Moore

One of the miniature quilts (approx 6" sq) 'Whirlpool Galaxy' - Dorian Walton (2nd prize)

Winner of the miniature quilts 'Autumn' - Hilary Drake. Tiny pieces of fabric!

'Branching out' - Jenny Rolfe

Detail from Julie's quilt - 'Change' (see full size photo on Julie or Maggi's blog)

A few details from exhibiting artists......

Cas Holmes

Fabric printing demonstration from Claire Benn at Committed to Cloth.

 Frances Pickering kindly posed for a photo and signed the book I bought from her.

And finally something from me.......

A little fabric and paper collage (3" across) made from some scraps provided by Cas Holmes (a stained teabag, some pretty fabric and a piece of old hand embroidery) along with a few things of my own.

Not my usual colour scheme is it? 

Ah well....back to the purple, lime and turquoise tomorrow ;-)

What a day........

Just a quick blast of gorgeousness from the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, where I had a fabulous day yesterday. More details and names of artists to come......

Show and Tell.....

After yet another blogging holiday ;-) I thought it was time to show what I've been up to. I'll try not to be too wordy as there are quite a few photos. I've been busy making things to sell in my daughter's salon, plus I spent a few weeks celebrating my recent 60th birthday. Well that's my excuse..... :-)

Anyway, here goes.........
1. A felted piece for a journal cover .....part done on the embellishing machine, part by hand.

 2. Journals for my daughter's salon/shop.

 3. Also crochet/bead bracelets...

 3. ...and organza flower brooches/hair clips. (Love making these :-) )

 4. A felted/collage card for a friend.

 5. A drawing which I'm in the middle of... (she insists on looking sad although I've tried to cheer her up :-/ )

 6. Gorgeous threads which I bought from Maggi's new online shop  www.maggi21handdyes.com
 I've just ordered some beautiful fabric pieces too. I recommend a visit...she's a whizz with those fabric dyes!

7. A recent holiday in Skiathos (a birthday treat). My favourite Greek Island and our 5th visit :-)

 8. The Beach is back in Nottingham city centre! And yes...we have had a couple of sunny days recently to enjoy it!

 9. Enjoying a San Miguel in the Caribbean-style bar next to the beach.

 And finally......
 10. The Boy
He's grown so much he's struggling to fit on my knee. He wriggles and squirms around, trying to get comfy.......a messy tangle of limbs! Reminds me of this photo from a while back.

Click on pics for a closer look....especially the Peachy one ;-)

Ok....I have 2 days for blog-visiting before I go to Knaresborough on Thursday. For those of you who can get there, Feva arts week starts there on Friday :     http://www.feva.info/UserFiles/Image/files/Programme_2012_PDF.pdf

Fingers crossed for sunshine!

Back again.....

You must be bored of me saying 'I'm back'.... ;-)
I seem to be struggling a bit to create posts these days....and its not easy with this on your knee demanding attention all the time...........

But anyway, as you can see from the above photos, I've been on my travels again....to Pollensa in Majorca. We stayed by the sea in the beautiful old Hotel Miramar which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, but is still as pristine and beautiful as ever . Top left photo was the scene outside the hotel on our last day.... East Midlands airport 6 hours later couldn't have been more of a contrast!!!

I have been making things too..... mainly bracelets to sell in my my daughter's salon.

 This is my work-desk today.

I've worked out how to crochet with beads to create wraparound bracelets. I couldn't find a video of this anywhere - if you know of one please get in touch as I'd like to check I'm doing it properly!

I've also taken Sally-Jean's solder workshop - but sadly I'm not very good at it :-(

These are 3/4 inch and 1 inch charms.....maybe they'll look alright on bead chains. (If you want to see beautiful solder jewellery visit Terri's blog; she definitely has the knack!).

As for my mixed-media work...I'm in the middle of this piece at the moment, just need to add more stitching and some beads.

Sorry if you're fed up with Peachy pics but I just had to include these :-)
I found him lying on the table in the conservatory a few days ago and for a horrible moment I thought he was dead! I checked he was breathing and grabbed my camera....

 ....and as I approached he opened an eye.........phew!!

That boy knows how to relax......


Off now to do some blog visiting......please bear with me if it takes me a couple of days.