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.

Back to the computer.....

I finally finished my domino book! I love how small and cute it is.....

I thoroughly enjoyed Terri's workshop. She has a lovely teaching style.......and lots of great tips and ideas. In fact there are lots more ideas in the videos that I haven't used yet, but I have plans for two more.
Terri's domino books are so beautiful, as you'll see here.

Some more pics of mine......

You may notice a few of my favourite Paper Whimsy images.....and some pressed flowers, torn text, dyed scrim, stamped images, inked edges, ribbons, beads and a charm.

Thank you Terri......I've really enjoyed this little project.

Since my last post I've been to Knaresborough to visit friends, plus I had a lovely day trip to Lincoln with my friends Maggi and Julie.

In Knaresborough we went to the RHS Harlow Carr Garden open day, where we walked miles in the sunshine, saw cookery and gardening demonstrations........

.......plus two fighting hares

..........and three gorgeous alpacas!

The colours of the wool are all natural.......no dyes needed.

There are two Betty's tea rooms at Harlow Carr.....we sat outside at the 'rustic' one and ate Fat Rascals with our tea.......

 ....whilst being watched by another fat rascal (after our crumbs).

Maggi, Julie and I had a lovely day in Lincoln. We visited a couple of galleries, admired the stunning angel bridge over the canal......

 ....and the wonderful cathedral.......

It says here that the cathedral was the tallest building in the world for 249 years (1300 - 1549). Some claim to fame, eh?

Maggi spotted the pretty reflections from the stained glass windows on the pillars inside. 

Which reminds me, I mustn't forget to show you the luscious threads she gave me on the day....all dyed by her fair (albeit stained) hands ;-)

She's even labelled the composition of each hank....how thoughtful! (She's a talented girl, as you'll see if you visit her blog. I must congratulate her on finally completing her C&G..... well done Maggi, your quilt is beautiful !)

Now I wonder..... are those thread colours really me.....???? 

I think that's about all for now.....except to say I've been doing Sally Jean Alexanders soldering workshop so I'll be showing you my efforts in my next post.

I can only hope I get better at it......... :-/

A Lovely Surprise

Last week I was absolutely thrilled to find out I'd won a give-away on Terri's blog....'Artful Affirmations'..... a truly delightful place to visit. There's always lots of variety there; mixed-media artwork, jewellery, tutorials.....and teacups! Terri is also a great fan of England and I love to read about her visits here.
Anyway, I won her 'Altered Domino Book' workshop (on the Shabby Cottage website here...if you click on Online Workshops and scroll down you'll see Terri's class). I've already watched all nine videos and they are excellent. You should see Terri's beautiful examples.
Up to now I've prepared 8 dominoes with alcohol inks...there's loads more to do yet! I'll show you more in a week or so when they're finished ;-) I used Adirondack alcohol inks and got the detailed effect by dabbing with an old spiky paintbrush!

They are so lovely to hold ........

I also made a few tags yesterday to put in my 'sales box'. Not sure whether to sell them singly or in packs.....

My favourite one...... :-)

....I just love those Paper Whimsy flowers.

I'm off to Knaresborough again this weekend....can't wait! This will be our 5th visit; we go to visit our friends who are lucky enough to live there......

We never tire of this wonderful view from the castle.  The train to Harrogate only takes 8 mins and travels over the viaduct. There are lots of coffee shops and places to eat by the river...and secret little pathways leading up into the town.
Our dream is to retire there one day and join our friends........ :-)

Fabric and Paper.....

Just grab a selection of fabric and paper scraps.......

........choose a few and layer them.....

......then add some stitching.

My favourite pastime :-)

Close ups.....

I used my hand-made background papers (some on kitchen towel), gold lace  (thank you Jacky ;-) text (thank you 'All Saints', who wrap purchases in the best tissue ever), dyed mulberry bark, random-dyed silk fabric, silk dupion,  plus one of my favourite Paper Whimsy images which I machine stitched (very slowly ;-)
I then glued the finished collage to a piece of painted ply wood.
I have another sales outlet now...'.The Emporium' in Draycott. My daughter's shop opens in two weeks...more of that to come later.

My journals are all stitched and ready.....

The insides are decorated too....

...and I'm thinking about making paper bands for them with my sticker on the back.

Collaged postcards and tags next!

In my last post I said I'd show you Peachy's next catch.

Well this time it was a vole ...... and it was HUGE!

I came downstairs and found it cowering by the conservatory door surrounded by what I thought was a pile of black rice. Thankfully the poor thing was unharmed........and Peachy was nowhere to be seen. No doubt he was bored by this catch and back in the woods looking for something more exciting.

Of course, he tried to get round me later......

'Love you Mum..........'

Warning - Photo Overload!

I feel a need to apologise for the number of photos I'm going to bombard you with this week :-) Hope you have time to stick with me....
Firstly.....on Monday I decided to take Roben-Marie's journal workshop and so have spent a happy few days doing my favourite thing - splattering ink and stuff around (good job you can't see the carpet in my studio :-/  )
Here are the covers.....today I'm cutting up paper to stitch inside; I'm hoping to sell these in the coming weeks. (my daughter is about to start up a beauty salon with a friend so I might have an outlet for some of my work there).

 Yay..... one without green-overload!!!

Last week Maggi and I took the train to Birmingham to see the lace exhibition at The Museum and Art Gallery.  It also gave me (yet another) chance to see my favourite Pre-Raphaelites :-)

 'Proserpine' by Dante Gabriel Rossetti 

First we visited the real lace exhibition where we saw some truly amazing examples........ (and couldn't stop gasping at the fine detail in some of these)

 ....top left is a pillow from the exhibition....the blue ones are mine. Yes, I briefly dabbled with lace-making about 25 years ago......haven't a clue how to do it now though. Do you know anyone who wants to buy hundreds of beautiful beaded lace bobbins?

The focus of our trip...'Lost in Lace' was a truly amazing exhibition.

"Featuring large-scale, theatrical and visually spectacular work, this exhibition challenges perceptions of what lace can be..... see how the patterns, materials and cultural traditions of lace are represented through radical new approaches by 20 leadingUK and international artists."

Enormous 'lace' panels to walk through....

 clever interpretations.....

 weird ideas (this billowed slowly in different sequences - quite spooky!)....

 different materials and ways of seeing things......

.... this gorgeous black hanging looked like lace but was made of a material that I've forgotten the name of....Maggi, can you remember?

 A crystal 'chandelier' made from half a ton of Swaroski crystals!!!

 And finally, my favourite room......five dresses which seem to be floating in the midst of a network of fine black threads. Its mind-boggling to think how this was done.....

Well that's all folks.
Apart from a Peachy update.
Like him, I am also becoming an expert mouse catcher ....he has brought four live ones home this week :-( ....  and I have had to devise a method of rescue. Plastic box on top...slide card underneath....take to the wood at the bottom of our cul-de-sac.
Must remember to take a photo of the next one....... :-)

Who....me??????