A new camera, a new look at life.

Our little digital camera has finally seen its last days, after 5 years of being a loyal servant. A huge amount of research was done,(and you bloggers were a great help) we decided to purchase this fantastic camera!

I am now seeing the word in a completely different way. I have loved the macro facility on our old camera but OH MY GOODNESS! it is so much better with the new one.

Landscapes, textures, colours and creatures are in a world of their own.

My photos actually look quite professional! (I particularly like the one above!)

So what better way than to test it out on a family walk............................

Pond dipping.......................................................

Nature watching................................... (this is stunning if you click on it and zoom in)

I am seeing patterns for future projects...............................

And of course it all seemed to float away with the breeze...........

P.S. Kim and I have not forgotten the competition on previous post, we will announce the winners at the end of the week!

A sticky end to a sweet time!

After a lovely jaunt with the ever so sweet Ragged Roses a few weeks ago, a plan was hatched to go hunting and a making of the popular Elderflower Cordial!
Buckets and secateurs in hand we escaped to our favourite hunting ground. May I point out that wearing short cropped trousers was NOT a sensible idea, elderflowers like to grow in the centre of stinging nettle circles! Really! A stick and a pair of ladders would have been a good idea too, but where there's a will there's a way! ouch......


With blossom in our buckets and on our noses we settled down to the familiar Bakery treat and a taste of what we anticipated to be the nectar of our rewards!

Do you know, people like to take strolls around our land! Tut tut, really we shouldn't allow it! If only this glorious place was ours, we have already moved into the grand house at the bottom of the hill and planted our lavender farm. With a striding struggle back up the hill, past the orchids and peacocks! (sorry Kim!) saving the national park mending gates, we headed back to base.

With all the nattering, picking and giggling we realised we had to make this heavenly drink! Thank goodness we had the help of this recipe. With doubling quantities here and replacing ingredients there we did get a little confused.

Shaking the blossom in the garden desired a bit more brain cells, was that 20 flower heads...21.... no 30? Oh lets say 50!

Kim did a fantastic job of stirring the HUGE amount of sugar and water in the preserving pan that my mother so kindly has given me! (I can see a lot of Jam and Chutney making on the horizon).

Lemons zested and chopped! Oh what a lovely scent. Had we picked the right blossom or were we going to get Cat pee?

Wafts here and there were chased around the kitchen, ''yes I can smell elderflower..... just here.....no, no, er, over here!?''

The magic ingredient 'CITRIC ACID' oh my, talk about gold dust, was added! That Kim is a canny lady, if you want your citric acid, she's ya lady, nudge nudge, say no more!



Any way, I night was spent fingers crossed waiting for the filtering and bottling! Did we have Elderflower cordial?..........................................

OH YES WE DO!

With added sparkling water and a few ice cubes we giggled and giggled drunk on the spirit of a summer to come!


As we have made vast amounts, Kim and I would love to hear your uses for Elderflower cordial that we could try and in return a lucky person will receive some summery goodies to help us celebrate!

Chin chin me dears......

just need to go and clean all the sticky sweet residue that 2 bloggers ave left in my kitchen!

Fun in May!

May is such a busy month for me that it goes with in a blink of an eye. Exhibiting in the Brighton Open House zaps all my energy and at the end of May I question whether I had seen any of it. Well this year I made an effort.

I decided to take a couple of afternoons off from being at the Open House and actually get out of Brighton and visit a few of the out of town ones.

These pics are from a fantastic venue, The Handmade House in Ditchling. Every item in the house is a piece of artwork ready to be purchased, gazed at and drooled over. There is a little trail in the garden (more like vast acres!, jealous...oh yes!) with strange , weird and wonderful sculptures.

Of course you have to stop for tea and CAKE! MMmmmmmm my fav, cooked cheesecake!

After refreshments were had, we ventured fourth to the John Skelton studios in Streat. What a wonderful place. Jo Sweeting who was one of Johns apprentice has her work here and also teaches classes. I bought Mr Sew Recycled a course in stone carving for his birthday this month and he is loving every minute of it, he comes home cuddling his stone!

These sculptures are in the garden, some were carved in situ as we found out from one of his old apprentice. She said that she remembered when John was alive that in the winter they would put Vaseline on their hands, load up the wheelbarrow with a flask and tools and head off to the garden to work on a piece.... mad and amazing!

My father many years ago used to do a lot of carpentry work on the house and studio, he fondly talks of his little jobs there and its great to see evidence of my fathers craft in such a beautiful place.

Where did this little gate lead to, Mr McGregors garden?

If only this was smell -a-blog! I love old roses, the scent was beautiful.

Well you know Kim and I went to see Anish Kapoors C Curve the other day, I took the boys and Mr SewRecycled to see it the other evening.

Such a contrast to the daytime pics.....

The atmosphere was very lovely too, we took a blanket and a flask of hot chocolate, many people were there with bottles of wine and simply taking the whole experience in.....

We stayed and watched the sun go down.........

As we walked back down the hill the sculpture took on a whole new identity....... the boys were convinced aliens had landed!

Now all you keen gardeners have been showing off their gorgeous poppies, well take a look at these!

They are huge, bigger than my two hands cupped together,

The centers are really amazing as well........

Imagine being a busy little bee in this huge pollen world.............................


Today we heard on the grapevine that there was an Open House opening for an extra week, so with maps and crayons (in a fine crayon wrap if I might say so!) and tummy's ready for cakes we st of to The Old Forge in South Heighton.

If you love views, great art, sculptures and gardens go go go and see this place

The lounge has this massive window which just makes your jaw drop at the view, the picture below does not do it justice!

Amongst the various little garden hideaways were sculptures and perfect little places to have tea and cake......

In one section even the chickens have a beautiful place to call home, look at the roof!
Christian Funnell is so talented, each roof tile is a unique metal scallop shell, I wouldn't mind having a little roost in there!

Oh look, another place to sit and munch on a homemade scone WITH clotted cream! (A very happy Mr Sew Recycled!)

An image straight out of Country Living!

So, hope you have enjoyed my May, I have certainly! Bring on June!

Mapp and Lucia went up the hill............

Mapp and Lucia went up the hill to see an Anish Kapoor........

Mapp fell down to take a photo.........

And Lucia tumbled with fits of laughter!

Mapp and Lucia lay giggling some more..........

And what do you think Mapp thought she saw?

An upside down world, a deer in the woods, a cup of good tea and a jammie doughnut for pud!

Life today was bliss in a good way, Mapp and Lucia drove home all cheerful and gay!

Sshhh! Can you hear the bunnies busy in the kitchen?

Lets hope they don't make too much mess like last year!

Enjoy the celebrations and company with family and friends, oh and don't eat too much choc!

I HEART THIS!

Quite a few weeks ago I signed up to do the heart swap on Mollycupcakes blog.

And I was the lucky one to be paired up with Sarah from Bluberrypatch.

Just look at all these goodies I received from her! I cant say which is my favourite as they are ALL so yummy.

One thing I did neglect, was to tell my husband. He was somewhat worried when he started seeing hearts popping up all over the house...... WHO WAS SENDING ME LOVE HEARTS?!

Lets say he was a happy hubby when told the truth......

And I was one 'Very Happy Heart Swapper!'



Last week my youngest son had informed me that he had invited 2 of his lady friends to pop round for tea, with strict instructions that it was to be a fairy tea party with cake......

Strawberry sandwiches.......magic wand breadsticks......flowery crisps and of course potions! (fruit cocktail drink!)

I think I can say it was perfect magical time for all!

P.S. I have had some awards recently and will post about them next time.

Too sweet?

I have been toying with the idea of making dolls for a while, but when it has come to designing the face I have really struggled.

After sewing for sometime I have realised that I have really neglected my drawing skills. The body of the doll seems simple and exciting to me, but the face...?

I have always struggled with faces even when I used to do life drawing. I am so envious of people (husband!) who can do the most beautiful and life like portraits.

So for the dolls face I had the dilemma of sewing or printing?

After realising that sewing a face would be just as bad as my drawing skills I decided to set myself a challenge.

BROWN EYES

I decided to think back to my university days, how did we go through the idea process.....


BLUE EYES

Each step has been enjoyable and I am quite happy with the result.

I will print them on fabric and then sew them on to the doll. With a bit of tweaking and embellishing hopefully they will be ok.

It is supposed to happen in 3's.

They say things happen in 3's, well take a look at our list on the board! Me thinks the grumpy people need the KitKat with the tea!
I can say now that we have heating (just) and we can all safely go top the loo without water pouring through the floorboards! As for everything else.......... lets take a break!

Remember I said I was making something for mothers day gifts, well here are the little sweeties.

I did my first fayre of the year at the weekend and thought something new would be fun. I have a few books on crewel work and thought it was about time that I used their tutorials.

It seems a bit mean to stick pins in them, but so cute with this little play mobile elf!

I decided to make some new notebook covers as I was out of stock from Christmas.

They went down well, little girls adored them.

And as usual I made quite a few of these corsages. I never tire of making them, so many colour options, its endless!

With all this lovely sunny weather , it certainly inspires the imagination.

Enjoy the spring sunshine and have a bunch of daffs from me! x




*Edit

If you want to have a go at making similar toadstools I made mine with a combination of this tutorial and a lot of help from this book!

Have fun.

Bargains galore and its a wrap!

I am trying to get myself ready for the May Festival Open House as I usually leave it to the last minute and get stressed!

So above are some crayon wraps that I seem to be making all year round. I love choosing colours for these, once I start I can't seem to stop.

Anyway, BARGAINS!

We all love bargains and I must say I have done quite well this week. We have been after a cabinet to put our TV in for quite a while. Every time I enter our loung my stomach churns when I see wires, screens and dvds. Well walking past our local YMCA charity shop I came across this and a steal at £20!

I am afraid that someone else had spied it just half an hour before and did not snap it up in time! SORRY Kim, when you see a bargain you have to grab it, tee heee! Just needs a paint job and I will be smiling away!

I am afraid my next 2 bargains might not be so good as they were purchased from Primark. What with all the credit crunch and stuff sometimes you have to forget a few incy wincy morals. I love love this cardi, very much like a CK one, the colour is so much nicer than in the pic.

And these little pumps, a beautiful dove grey colour and a BARGAIN at £4.00.

A girl can never do without her pumps!

Must get back to my new little project ready for mothers day.......I will post pics if they work.

A hoot to the end of half term!

As most of us are aware its been half term and what a hoot of a time we have had!
It has been a really enjoyable one this time, seeing old friends, quality time with loved ones and time with just me and the boys.




As Friday was the official last day of half term (we don't count weekends) I decided to take the boys to the Bluebell Railway AND it was only a £1 per child!

I think the boys and I all had something to make us go ... ah.... wow....ooooo!

I loved all these posters and tin plates dotted around on trains and platforms....

I told the boys about a poor chap stuck in this case!!!!! Tee hee, wicked mummy!

The boys have been befor but little P was probably only 8months old when we last went. We had given our father a birthday pressie of a chance to spend a day driving the trains.

The boys were amazed to see the actual train that their grandfather had driven, up close too in the shed. Good god they are big!

I thought you girls might like this poster.... oh if it was like that now, a weekend in gay Paris!

Even the heating system in the carriage is beautiful!

The golden age of steam.....................

TOOT TOOT! Have a great weekend!

Snow glorious snow!

SNOW! What snow!!
What a fantastic way to wake up, just look.......... bliss. NO CARS making horrible noises..........


All the roads here were really really thick, the peace was music to our ears...........

All you could hear were the shrieks of laughter and joy...........

I want more!

Why people have to moan and grumble, yes we can't cope with it because we all have it SO EASY! Wake up and smell the flowers, look at your children and see simple happiness!

If we had snow all winter (like the olden days) like our friends in other countries we would just get on and cope. SO STOP MOANING and enjoy........

Sorry, I just feel that this country does not really appreciate what we have and have forgotten the simple pleasures in life. We had no milkman yesterday due to the weather, but I knew this was coming and bought extra the day before. Apparently our local supermaket was out of milk, bread and cheese and people were panicking as if this was the end of the world!

Make your bread!

We coped, we had homemade soup from a humble leek and potatoe and as we had no bread I made cheese scones!

Sorry, moan moan moan, I am moaning like a true Brit! Tee Heee!

Anyway, can you see what I have started to make above....... Thanks to Lucy at Attic24!

Well, listen to your heart, stay in keep warm and enjoy your childrens hapiness as they play in the snow.

Be a devil and join in...go on....... x

You have got to just push yourself.

GREEN TREE GALLERY


That's what I keep telling myself, if you don't try you will never know where it will lead.


The Green Tree Gallery in Borde Hill Gardens is a lovely place. They approached me at the Open House Festival in May and have been selling my Corsages, Crayon wraps and Bunnies. Well just before Christmas they asked all the artists if they would like to take part in the Affordable Art Sale this Feb.. I thought about it and what with being stuck to a sewing machine for most of December, I promptly forgot about it!




'Florence'



What with the credit crunch and making the decision that this is the year to promote my work, the light bulb above my head went PING!


'Papillon'

So, out of the cupboard came the Textile pictures which did not sell in May and I have entered them to be sold at the Affordable Art Sale.

I was going to keep them for the next Open House, to fall back on just in case the creative juices don't flow, but I have wanted to do some new work for a while, this could be the incentive.





'Flora'

Like most artists/creative people, I find that I create better work under a little stress!


Mmmm...... I will be regretting those words come the end of April!


Its good though... really....... lets see......

Love is in the air.........

I love shadows, they sometimes set little scenes........

I couldn't help but do my own version of the old shadow portraits they used to do of loved ones...

This looks like it should be a little village with its church. In fact, my little boy had been playing with his playmobile indian tent and left it on the dinning room table. Then sun was streaming through casting the most amazing shadows. Snowflake decorations on the window, a glitter ball hanging and then toys, fruitbowl on the table. Simple with no tweeking!

Anyway LOVE.............

What will you be sending the love of your life?

I thought I had better get my act together, I made some heart brooches ages ago and they sold quite well.

So with the old brain ticking and the nimble fingers twitching I have come up with some new cute designs.

I really enjoyed making this one, you can't quite see the detail on the side but it reminds me of the victorian era.

Anyway, they are now available and more on my Etsy and Folksy shops.

Hope the rain is not gettng you all down, just spoken to my sis in Aus, it was cold there apparently...20oc!

New Year, new work, new shop......

I have decided that this year is the year to promote myself and my work. "What have you done then?" I hear you say.
Well, I have opened another shop via the Internet through Folksy. This time I am going to keep up with it and go for gold! You can access it either by the link above or on my sidebar.

I love the names people come up with for online shops, why and how ..... Folksy....Etsy. Such funny little names.

As you can see above and below, this is what is available in my shop at the mo.

The turquoise and grey corsages have been really popular this Christmas. I have found that my work seems to flow quite naturally with the colour trends.

I must pick up on it subconsciously within and around my surroundings.

I thought I had better put a few of these little bunnies on there. I love making these and I tried to work out how many I have made so far over the year......... well, I make about 12 in each batch, probably one batch a month..... erm so that's probably ......

150ish! Flippen eck!

No wonder my fingers are worn through! I love making them, I get quite precious about using my stash of fabrics but some how I get carried away and excited when coming up with combinations for the bunnies.

As for the corsages, don't make me count them, I have been making these for about 4 years and they sell so well, imagine........

A friend of mine gave me a stash of the most unusual fabrics recently, when I look at the patterns they remind me of Eastern Europe, Little Polish old ladies and their head scarfs.

Anyway, jabber jabber, less of this and more of the old sewing me dear!

Ta Ta for now

*Just added some new stock to my Etsy shop as well, so take a look!

Sew cold!

Look what we woke up to this morning!

Hope you get to enjoy some too!

The end is nigh....

My goodness, has it really been a month since my last post? There has been a good reason, this has been my view..........................
It has been the season of goodwill, Christmas school Fetes, church fetes and 3 weekends of Open House. I AM EXHAUSTED!



One of the best sellers on my stall has been these little gems. I had one of those divine moments a few weeks ago when at school, a friends son gasped as the contents of his GO GO bag expelled itself all over the playground. PING! A little light bulb went in my head........I will make and sell GO GO bags!
Well the orders have been coming in quick and fast, the one above was for a little girl called Daisy!
If you are unaware of the GO GO craze take a look!

Remember the bunting I made for my nephew, well his sister my little niece had her Birthday the other day so I had to make some for her too.

Its so nice making girly things, it lets me indulge!

The Christmas festive season has well and truly kicked in with carol concerts........

and nativity plays. Ehmm, see that little boy dressed as Joseph............that's my very own talented thespian! Watch out Zac Efron!

Harmony in Gloucester.

Half term was a right old mixed bag! More about that later but the highlight was to go and visit a lovely lady.
We call her GG, why? well she is at the ripe old age of 95 my boys Great Granny, a mouthful for little ones to say hence calling her GG!
This fine lady, drives, grows her own veg and plays Bridge with her young friends! She has seen and lived through so many changes, loosing her husband early and bringing up 2 children on her own.
Her secret....... well independence, good food, tea at 4, drinks at 6 (two good measures of whisky!) and laughter!
She is good example of how to live your life and someone who I will always look up to. Even though she is my husbands grandmother, she has always treated me as a grandchild and we share so much in common its quite spooky!

She lives in a really sweet village in Gloucestershire, whilst we were there I took the boys out for a couple of walks. This was mine and my eldest favourite, would you like to come with us......?


First we leave her old barn and walk down the lane........

We come to the snicket, look at those Cotswold dry stone walls...................................

Skip down the snicket, scrunching on the leaves..........pick up a few stones to repair a gap............

Find a little step to peer over the wall.......................................................

We reach the end of the snicket, look at the HUGE stone........................

Past the allotments, darn fine ones too................................

around the corner to the top of the high street. This is the old meeting house....................

back to the crossroads admiring the old buildings and finding secret doorways.

Well we hope you enjoyed the walk, we most certainly do every time we come to this little bit of England.



BOO!

Remember that pumpkin my mother grew, he's watching you!

Of course we all managed to enjoy Halloween.....................

creepy hands and feet everywhere!

After a week of all coming down with a bug we did manage to enjoy part of the Half Term. What was going to be a time of seeing friends, visiting places and making all sorts was spent stuck in doors under strict quarantine!

I did enjoy spending time at home with my boys though, just us, no routine. Its back to school again and a little boy was not too happy. I find it hard to let go, knowing that they have years to go being stuck in classroom environment but life goes on and Christmas is just round the corner. Sew sew sew.............................

Who loves Autumn?

I do! Well how could anyone not. Lighting the fire, snuggling in and getting down to some serious sewing, knitting and crochet. I have had a bit of sewing block and needed a little project to get back into the swing. I have been desperate to make some really nice bunting and with an impending birthday of my nephew on the horizon it was a perfect opportunity. I couldn't resist putting his name on. So I have a question for you all, I sell very simple bunting at bargain price but would like to start selling the kind of bunting above. Do you think that £2.00 per letter is too much or too little, the above bunting has 5 letters with 4 plain which would make it a sale price of £18.00. I would appreciate your feedback as it might be a new line on sale.

Anyway, back to Autumn, I do love it for various reasons, colour, smell, fires, walks, berries, harvesting and erm... well.... BIRTHDAYS! It is mega birthday season in my family, starting with my big sis, then my brother, then my little baby who now is sooooo big I cant believe how 5 years has vanished in a blink. Then of course its mine! Then my mums and my little sis, so you can see why its mega birthday time.

Look what this lucky little (erm old) girl received!!!!!!! I cant bear to stick pins in it.

Do you think people know I like cooking? If you haven't been watching What to Eat Now, I strongly recommend you do. We are very much seasonal eaters in this house and Valentine Warner (what a lovely name) hits the nail on the head with his gorgeous and may I say simple recipes. A while back a good friend gave me Carol Kleins Grow Your Own Veg book, so her Cook Your Own Veg book is great to show you what to do with it all. We eat a lot of veg in this house so its really nice to have a book just for them! TEE hee hee (as Carol would giggle!)

My mother grew this plus many more pumpkin's on her allotment, puts my little one to shame! They do make a good pumpkin and goats cheese quiche though, the boys gobbled it down with homegrown roast pots and huge carrots! Mmmmm don't you just love Autumn!

Just a few flowers left from the allotment, looks like I might go into business with these next year, neighbours are putting in orders! Watch out Sarah Raven!

A happy ending........

Sorry for the delay in the words to this post, its a real romance story. A film could be made from it.

Are you sitting comfortably, then I shall begin.......

Once upon a time there was a girl who was not so happy, she had a gorgeous and very special child but craved for that true love and happy ending that all girls dream of.

Then one day she met an old friend that rekindled a spark, which then simmered and evolved into a love that was meant to be. Unfortunately the romance was not to run smoothly, the man that she so truly had fallen in love with was to leave and work in New Zealand, something he had been planning for a long time.

What was she to do?

She sat on her friends sofa crying her eyes out, happy for her friends impending wedding but sad that she would not be able to be with the man she loved. The decision was made and she went on an adventure staying with her love in NZ for a month.

Well, 2 weeks later and what was that on her finger?........................................

They both new that they had to be together, and the thought of waiting for October (the next time that they would see each other) was too hard to endure. This lovely man took her out for her birthday and proposed!

They decided that it had to be soon and and within 3 days they became Mr and Mrs P!

So is this the end of a romantic story.... no, Mrs p had to return to England and wait for October! As you can see from the photos above a small celebration was held on a wet and wild October day so that all their English friends could join them in their happiness.

November will be a sad month for me and this friend, as we will have to say goodbye to each other and so will our children, but knowing that they are going to have an exciting new and very happy life brings joy to us all.!

THE END

Thought I might show you a picture of this very silly cat of ours! She likes to sit in a most peculiar way on the back of our sofa..... dear JamJam!

Winnings and Autumn pickings!

Look what I won! Sorry Michele for the delay in thanking, but THANKYOU for this gorgeous little parcel that arrived. The whole process of opening was such a joy. The paper you wrapped the mirror in was so sweet, I can't bear tp get rid of it. The mirror is now my posh mirror! When I was a young girl I used to collect the flower fairies mirrors. I cherished them until two little sisters decided to play and chew them. I only have one left and the boys love it.

As you are all aware Autumn is here and possibly the best time of year.
So out come the plastic boxes and hunting for blackberries is the game. Our eldest went on his first ever Beaver camp a weekend ago, so the little one came with us for a lovely walk.......

Look at this little cottage, it is attached to the church and the lady who lived in it was so sweet.

We found a secret stash of blackberries........ someone found it quite difficult to keep them in the box, they just kept popping in the mouth!

Mmmmmm, they are now Jam!

We have done so much over the weeks, now that both boys are at school I must knuckle down and work. But where does the time go, how did I fit it all in before?

Anyway, here are a few pics of what Autumn is turning out to be.......lovely!