Lovely Blog Award

What a lovely gesture! I’ve been nominated for the lovely blog award by fellow crafter and blogger Irene from http://www.sewstitchknit.com

I am thrilled to accept this award and so will reveal 7 things about myself (that was the deal!) and nominate up to five people that I consider also worthy of the award.
So here goes …
1 – I started blogging just over a year ago to demonstrate, try out, create, make up and revisit as many different crafts as I could. Along the way, I’ve connected with lovely people, fellow crafters and delighted in sharing craft swaps.

2 – When I was seven I took part in a national art competition and won a packet of plasticine (a bit like play doh); a watercolour set and met the Queen for my picture of her on horseback in front of the gates of Buckingham Palace.

3 – I’ve only ever driven on the motorway once and will avoid it at all costs. My kids tease me about ‘big roads’! It was a case of: tried it once and didn’t like it

4 – I love exploring new places and have a strong desire to travel – my dad lived and worked in several different countries and I grew up surrounded by lodgers from around the world – yet my DH gets severely travel sick so it took me nineteen years to get him on an aeroplane

5 – I’m allergic to bee and wasp stings and discovered this when sipping white wine and got stung on the forehead

6 – I’d always wanted to own a cuckoo clock as my dad kept one in a cupboard. I later found out that he kept it unwound because it was so noisy. I dislike ticking clocks and can’t sleep if there is anything other than a digital clock in the room or one that I can silence.

7 – I once thought that a cream tea was tea with cream in it.

and now, a couple of nominations for the lovely blog award are
http://craftingwithfelt.com

Plus

https://prettylittlethingsinabox.wordpress.com

There are many more I could also mention, if I had more time to comment

Thanks again Irene for the nomination 🙂

Little Darwin

I’ve been working on this doodle/Zentangle since our little guinea pig passed away on Wednesday. It’s been a difficult week for my youngest child as she’s had to deal with the loss of two pets close together. We miss Pom Pom the lop eared rabbit and little Darwin, so to help get over the sadness, I’ve captured Darwin forever in a doodle of dandelions and cradled on a bed of leaves so that our daughter, when she feels up to it, can colour to heart’s content over and over again and decorate him in glorious rainbow colours.

Hares … A new craze for me!

Happy first of the month everyone! I’ve been busy creating art with hares being the main feature recently. This includes doodling at work during my short lunch break!

..and another that I really love, just because it took me ten minutes to do and I like the expression:

Then I wanted to explore making a large gelliprinted collage of a hare using feathers, sweet peppers, bottle tops and gel pens on a large board:

Hard to know when to stop really, so I began doodling in my journal for February 1st in memory of my rabbit Pom Pom who sadly passed away at the end of last month and I don’t think we will be able to find another as placid and quiet as she was. Just as the dandelions dance away on the breeze, I hope she’s happily hopping over lush green pastures.

Glorious Daffodils

What’s your favourite flower? Do you go for the colour or romantic connotations of red roses.
With Valentine’s Day approaching and my 24th Wedding Anniversary, I bought some daffodils. Their buds were still tightly closed and we’ve had frosts most mornings. Yesterday, the buds began to open, so I set to work on creating my latest print.
I sketched an outline of three daffodils and cut them out in sections

I then took out my square gelli plate and pulled off a background print of blue

You can see the blue here; I’ve done other layers of colour and removed the flowers
Several layers later, I began embellishing the print with a white gel pen and black fine liner

Doesn’t it make you feel like spring’s on its way?

Another day; another stamp

There’s a deer park not far from where we live. I love to see them out, dipping their antlers. They also look so graceful when the snow’s falling.
I did a very quick biro sketch and then created a smaller version on a 2cm x 1cm white rubber.

Now, eleven stamps later, I have enough to put inside a shape:

This was a bit of fun as I was able to display all the stamps I’ve created so far :-).

Haiku noughts and crosses

The cross is a kiss
For every blocked nought you play.
Let’s count it a draw!

Eighth pair of wristies

What do you do when the car’s in for repairs, an MOT or service? Shopping? Visit a cafe? Stay in the garage workshop and wait? Well today, we had a product recall on our family car. Driving there in the snow, the DH and I chatted about tomorrow’s party and wondered whether the snow would settle this time.
The car was booked in for an hour, so my DH and I went to buy some school sports socks for my daughter – her pair had mysteriously fallen out of her bag after a sports lesson on Friday. She also broke her zip on her school skirt and therefore it needed a new zip. We then didn’t need much persuasian to sit in the cafe and nope, I couldn’t just sit there, could I?

I wrist-knitted this scarf in between sips of cappuccino using wool that was in the reduced box. Then I headed home with the repaired car and tried out a new crochet pattern for my next pair of wristies 🙂

I’ve not done zig-zags before, so I’m pleased with the result 🙂

Handcarved rubber stamps

Hi everyone :-).

Hear is my latest stamp. I’m preparing my collection ready for a printmaking worksop next month.

Years ago, I owned a Mini Clubman. I loved it until one day someone broke into it and stole the stereo, then took it for a joyride. It’s now probably in Mini heaven. My friend bought a Mini recently and has even given it a name: Poppy :-). I hope she likes this card I made for her using the Mini stamp 🙂

Hope you’re all well and not snowed in. We had our first bit of snow in the UK yesterday. I woke to find the roads wet and grey as usual, despite the severe weather warnings the previous day. I got in my car and drove four miles and suddenly the scenery was different: cars driving 2 miles per hour; rooftops blanketed with snow thick enough to disguise the roof tiles and big flakes falling. I wondered how on earth four miles would make that much difference and also whether I’d be late for work!
The town up on the hill was indeed unique to the snowfall. As soon as I’d driven out the other side and down a steep hill into the valley, the snow had completely vanished.
To some, snow is a satisfying and joyous experience. To others it signals disaster and triggers fear … Fear of injury and perhaps fear if being stranded on the way to or from work. Great if you don’t have to get anywhere.
I now have quite a collection of stamps for the group workshop and hopefully they will be inspired to carve their own 🙂

Tiny trees and tiny silhouette people

Anyone else like trees? I drive past them in winter and try and imagine their branches being limbs and the trunks being the body. I love the fact that they look so magically different during each season and how beautiful they seem when cloaked in a fresh layer of snow. Autumn colours of fallen leaves surround the trunks and carpet the ground like rainbow snow from a distance and blooms from spring blossom always make a great photographic opportunity.

So this evening I had fun carving out a rubber stamp tree using an everyday eraser, then doodling silhouettes of people sitting in them, lying under them reading or painting by an easel. Can you spot them?

I might try this handmade stamp on a sheet for wrapping paper next – it’s my mother’s birthday in a couple of weeks. I thought I’d make her a pair of gloves. I’ve also just crocheted my seventh pair of gloves since Christmas Eve! They’ve become a bit more elaborate since my first pair, using my own pattern, so I hope she will like the pair I plan to give her 🙂
This is my latest pair – complete with a ruffle …

Do you like to receive handmade gifts? What’s the best one you’ve received/or the most special? My mother-in-law (much to my DH’s embarrassment) has a handmade snowman using cotton wool balls and a cardboard tube which makes an appearance every year. Obviously it’s very dear to her. For me, it’s the early drawings of my children, such as a cat my eldest drew when she was 3 1/2 years old. She’d captured our tabby, Samson with giant claws and drew him dressed in rainbow stripes. Delightful 🙂

Next stage of project

After scoring the square shape inside each circle, you can fold the sections back and glue the base to a glorious background of colour …

Then start decorating with fun gel pens and fine liners 🙂