My cat is winging its way to Australia......

This is the cat in question. I recently signed up to Etsy and as a result these two brooches are relocating from snowy England to sunny Oz.



This makes me ridiculously happy. And very excited. I love making things. I love playing with colours and textures. And I virtually burst with joy when someone loves what I do. If they love it enough to buy it then my joy increases to the point where I almost hyperventilate. For two reasons. First, I can easily justify making more. Happy, happy, happy. And two, my dream to one day earn a living from creative endeavour grows a little brighter. I just can't be cool about it. Not at all.
The trouble is that my "skills that pay the bills" are clinical not creative. No playfulness there. No colour. By contrast the arty/crafty side of my life feels lightweight and fluffy and in need of justification. Though the fact that it is as important to me as breathing, truly, ought to be justification enough.



Another cat. Work in progress...... And a dog, also a work in progress!


Hairy Herbert the younger is behaving like the 11 month old yob that he is. My friend has trained her dog to close doors after he enters the room!!
Very clever, quite useful too. I would happily settle for coming back when he is called. Every time. In under 20 minutes!

Where does the time go?

Time flies. Faster and faster it would seem. This week has been so busy. Busy with all the mundane day to day activities interspersed with little pockets of creativity. I have been making these little felted hearts in any and every slot of time available.
They are proving to be quite addictive. I can carry all the materials in my handbag and never waste a moment.





This post is coming via my iPod so I hope that it will be readable and that the pics will be a reasonable quality. Just playing, you understand.






Not sure about the black lines!?






Honey, and beeswax candles from our busy little bees. I never realised what a science there is to making candles. Well, to making candles that actually burn. Whoever said size doesn't matter was fibbing. The size of wick is crucial. That much we have learned. But if there is some written ratio of wick to wax we have yet to discover it. All advice welcome.





Knitted bracelet. I have had this particular button for a very long time. So long that I cannot remember its origins. Today I think it found its home.

Filling in some blanks

It seems strange to me, sending out these posts without explanation or introduction.
Who am I?
Who are you?
I am not asking deep philosophical questions here! But I can't help wondering a little about those who read my blog. And, I feel I need to be grounded in these pages, grounded in some history and in truth.
My aim is to tell you about my creative life but it I feel the need to do the telling in some context. I am no writer, bet you'd guessed that already, and storytelling is definitely not my forte so here are vignettes to fill in some blanks:-


Ramblin' Randall and I took a river trip on the Wye. This was before the invasion of the Hairy Herberts when life was peaceful. We camped on the river bank in a very primitive site with just a stand pipe for water and a portaloo for ablutions. We had a small corner all to ourselves and had campfires at night and slept with the tent flaps open drifting off to sleep under a starry sky. Bliss. Until......a group of young lads,travelling down river, set up a tepe next door.....hit the local pub hard....and the portaloo even harder..... Capiche! Still,I never take my porcelain amenities for granted now.
That's what we do for fun.


For a couple of years we lived in Somerset. On a small, small holding. And we raised 6 orphaned lambs. More starry nights observed as we got up every 2-4 hours in the early days with each lamb to feed them. These two cuties were ewes. Mardi on the left and Belle on the right. For reasons beyond our control we had to leave and come back to Hampshire and trust these two to the care of a farmer. Their fate is unknown. And it breaks my heart.









We rescued 22 battery hens some of whom were in sorry states. This one sports a kind of Vivian Westwood style wrap to cover her chilly chest. Made from an experimental piece of knitting that didn't quite work out as planned. All 22 adapted to life in the green and sometimes the mud with great gusto. My first experience of hen keeping and I fell in love. Great characters. One day I hope to have more.

Loving it.......

It is a very happy happening when someone loves something that you have made. Yesterday
I sold the pixie cardigan, to a very nice lady, who, I was relieved to note, did look rather good in it. It is doubly satisfying when the garment seems to love the buyer in return.  I would always find a tactful way dissuade to someone from buying if it was not the case. It isn't just in the best interests of the customer that the item looks good on them but also in my own. I think that my creations are lovely just as objects in themselves....wouldn't make them otherwise but, on the right person they have life. And I feel happier seeing a match made in heaven, or perhaps not in heaven but in my studio/shop.




The sun shone brightly today which brought more people out and I had a pleasingly busy day. Making, selling, and trying to take photographs for my newly opened Etsy shop and for this here blog.
The Etsy thing is really interesting and encouraging. Not sold anything on there yet but people have 'favourited' items and so far the cat brooch is a clear winner.

The three drawers in this white dresser are full of old, disused, lovely cutlery....



every now and then I have a wind-chime making session and use the pieces like this......








I love putting a new twist on forks and spoons. Quite literally in many cases .........these are always popular and it's always the bent pieces that get the most positive comments. Although taking a good photo of them is a challenge, as yet, unmet!








Another popular item.

These little  bags are  a cute way of using up scraps of fancy yarns. They are about 6cm square and hold a single cream egg or Lindt teddy. They are ideal for Easter gifts or just for little girls who love a bit of bling. Quick, easy and fun to make.
For the handles I use necklaces that I buy from car boots and charity shops, the sort that are solidly strung as opposed to beads on a thread. You can cut the length you require and use in a multitude of ways.










Today is a day for catching up on paper work and then for catching up with family. One I love and one I loathe. No prizes for guessing which is which.
But somewhere in all of that, plus dog walking and meal making, I will carve out a little time to play/make/ create something. My sketchbook is filling up with ideas.
Happy Sunday.

Never in slippers

Patterns.
One has formed without my realising it.
I begin each post with a photo.
What has that got to do with the slippers that are referenced in this title? ..........Ab-so-lutely diddly squat. Please forgive my random thought processing. I will get to the slippers.

This beginning photo appears because I noticed,today, that there are no snowmen.
In this current snowfall, not one. Not on my patch. Usually this is the time when all manner of creations rise eerily, and wonkily from the ground to lighten dreary, struggling -to -get -around days with humour and cheer. This hypothermic scarecrow, on the allotments, has to suffice. He is cute tho, and reassuringly traditional.
The slippers thing refers to a quote that I read from a veteran, prolific blogger who vowed to never blog in bunny slippers.
This was from a designer with a proper business, but one that she ran from home. The idea being one of standards and of not letting them slip. Of taking herself and her business and by association her clients, I assume, seriously.
An idea I applaud. Truly I do. But my mind wanders and I wonder :- in the days portrayed in Downton Abbey one dressed for dinner, does one now dress to blog?




So this is my shameful confession. With the two Hairy Herberts ( older H.H. in picture) to contend with, my days away from " the skills that pay the bills" are a tight interweave of doggy activity and creative endeavour and often I barely remove my wellies.


But one thing I do indulge in as a kind of scene setting is to light all the tea lights in the evenings. Surrounded by candle glow I can imagine myself wafting in silk and perfume.  I do this not just to blog but to retreat into the refuge of my home. My heart space ,wherein all the things that I love do dwell and where from I send out my ramblings.

Is it crass to invite a reader to say hello.