I've been making wire jewellery on and off for a good few years now, usually as an addition to wedding stationery orders and the odd craft fair here and there but I recently discovered Sybille's Magpie Magic crocheted jewellery (via Natural Attrill) and was bowled over! It is fantastic! My normal jewellery wire is too think for crochet so she very kindly told me where she gets hers from and here is my first creation! Love it love it love it - thanks Sybille!!
at the Gog Magogs. Cambridgeshire isn't known for its rolling hills but it does have one or two, this beautiful nature reserve being one of them and this is the best time of year for flowers. And you do get and uninterrupted view across the surrounding landscape.
Finally after days and days of rain the sun came out in time for half term. Friday morning was spent at our beloved Orchard for apple pie and elderflower presse and this time we had guests! The finch and the robin sat on the back of the deckchair sizing each other up for a while but it was the finch who claimed the prize in the end, until Anya scared them away.
After three weeks solid of cleaning and stripping and painting and 'decluttering' (ie. packing things we can manage without for the time being into boxes and storing in mother-in-laws attic) we are finally depersonalised and ready to sell. If it weren't for the agents telling us we have increased the value of our place considerably in doing so I might have resented it but it is so nice to be clean and spotlessly tidy, if not a touch stark. I am suffering from colour deprevation and I am desperate to get my work out and make a creative mess. But needs must and I have satisfied my cravings by buying beautiful bright fabric from ebay. As I mentioned before I bought a stash of books for my birthday (it was on the 1st Suzie, seems like a life time ago!) and with my new crochet skills I am trying out different potentional designs for bags amongst other things. These gorgeous pieces in the pics will hopefully become the linings. I have lots more goodies to show but they are tucked away as they fall in to the 'clutter' category. Will dig them out as soon as I can!
I'm still around, just up to my neck in emulsion while we 'neutralise' the flat ready to sell. Gone is my beautiful japanese cherry wall in the bedroom, gone is the stars and rockets and planets that adorned my son's ceiling, the 'dot com' purple in the kitchen is next to be targeted. We have gone cream and beige and white. My worst nightmare. It used to be that you decorated when you moved into a place but house prices being what they are here you have to decorate before you leave to squeeze every penny you can out of, or rather into the value of your property to stand a chance of buying somewhere bigger. Oh well, sobeit. I have to admit though I am rather enjoying the process now I have got over my initial panic, and it is rather exciting to think that we will have a garden and if I am lucky a room of my own to work in! (And don't tell anyone but I am actually starting to like the beige and cream walls too, perfect backdrop for some of my brighter canvases!) And the flower? I gave in trying to learn crochet off the internet and treated myself to a book or two with my birthday money, lots of new projects on the way!
No, not the snail, it was still there an hour later, much to Anya's delight. This is how I wish I was at the minute, going at a snail's pace, having the time and the energy to take everything, to relax and take it easy. As hard as a try to get things done and caught up I seem to be landed with more and more things to do. Time seems to be flying by, the days turn into weeks into months into years and all of a sudden I'm five years off being 40! Mid life crisis? Not exactly but I do suddenly feel I'm not going to get everything finished in time to enjoy any of it. (Please note this is spoken with a huge dollop of irony, I don't do depressed so don't worry!). Plus we are about to pack part of our lives up and live in a state of no man's land while we attempt to move up the property ladder. I suddenly know how Dorothy felt as her house was whisked up by the tornado wondering where it was going to land. There's no place like home...there's no place like home...
I've finally got around to posting a new tutorial and as I have been asked a few times about bookbinding I have gone back to basics with an accordian journal, really simple and fun to make and play around with - have a go! If you want to see what goes on inside the book I will post the pages on my whispers blog.
Remember this? I bravely started a new painting with the intention of pulling together all my different skills on one canvas and here she is. You can tell from the previous photo she has undergone a transformation, in fact she was completely scrubbed out and re-drawn. When I started this I didn't have much of an idea which direction I was going to take - I have trouble doing paintings for the sake of it, they need a story or a theme to exist - which is why it has taken me so long to finish it. However Inspire Me Thursday this week is about tears and emotions which fitted in with her look, she looks calm and serene on the outside but there is a hint of pain so I added a little poem and the broken butterflies to suggest inner turmoil. I'm not entirely sure it's worked, I'm out of my comfort zone so will put it away for a while until I make my mind up what to do with it.
Opening pressies while still in pyjamas...
Going to the park for fun and picnic...
walking along the river looking for baby ducks...
eating ice cream (don't think she was too impressed about me taking this one!)...
and the all important birthday cake!
Doesn't time fly - my crazy, puddle jumping, fun loving girl has reached the grand old age of 2! Happy Birthday darling xx
We spent the easter weekend with family in the cotswolds ... 
...walking up the magical Malvern Hills...
...and through the beautiful Forest of Dean - tree heaven! I am too exhausted to write much but going back home always affects me slightly, feel like I leave a little piece of me behind but I love Cambridge so much I can't bear to be away too long either. Home from home.
...the things on my list bit by bit. Above is a new wedding stationery design based on my smitten print, both of which can be found in my shop, and I've also started a cafepress shop with both this and some of my other collages - I will gradually add more and more but let me know if you would like to see a particular piece on there that I haven't got to yet!
Easter holidays have officially begun, we've just been out for a run around the park and after nearly a week of hardly being able to move it's good to be out and about and feeling normal. This one tree was in full bloom despite the cold and the orange glow of the setting sun made it look magical. I am looking forward to the next few weeks...
Feeling much better today, the painkillers are doing their job and although I won't be turning cartwheels for a while yet (!) I don't yelp every time I try to walk / sit / bend / stand / reach etc. I even managed to get these little pages ready to post for an Around the World book swap I'm in. Sorry guys for being late but they are on their way!!
Well as if I didn't have enough to do already I went and pulled my back and have rendered myself useless for a few days. I'm not looking for sympathy as it's all my own doing and there are people with real problems and health issues much worse than mine but it has made me appreciate how much we take for granted. Suddenly a simple thing like picking a toy up off the floor or going to the loo or even going in the fridge to get milk for a cup of tea seems like a mountain to climb. So I am enjoying my rest time (difficult for someone who never sits still) and spending quality time with the little one, something I realised I don't do enough of even though we spend our days together and everything else can wait. (Could do without the pain though - see the picture, that's what it feels like!)
I so wish I was like this orchid, I yearn for this kind of peace and stillness in my crazy chaotic life. It was a mother's day pressie from my little angels and I just hope I look after it properly as I am not known for my gardening abilities. The last orchid that found it's way into my house lasted all of two days but this one seems a lot happier.
As for everything else, I have a long list of things to finish or start and life keeps getting in the way. As much as it pains me I am going to have to write a list and get organised again, start ticking things off before time slips away and I collapse in a heap trying to finish everything at the last minute. Having winter return with a vengeance just as I was getting excited about spring arriving hasn't helped. We've had hail storms, snow, bright sunshine, more hail and back to sunshine in the matter of minutes and it is soooo cold. I am in a spin again and need it to stop. Now!
I have been trying to complete a piece for Inspire Me Thursday for weeks now but the week flies by and it's Thursday again. This weeks topic is art and architecture which spurred me on to finish an abandoned painting started last year. This is about windows, a favourite motif of mine although I couldn't necessarily tell you why. I do like the idea of framing and structure and the idea that you are looking into a place different to where you are standing. Make of that what you will!
Wired pretty much describes how I'm feeling at the moment, too many late nights working, too many early mornings because of the little ones, and a lot of running around in between is not good for mind or body. One of the things I do to relax is doodle, I flick through magazines and draw faces. As you can tell I started with the old hag in the top left corner and they thankfully get better as my mind relaxes and my hand takes over. I really should try to make this more of a daily thing, I'm not the meditative type but this is the next best thing.
Spring is here! We wake up to light mornings; it's still cold but the sun is stronger and brighter and makes me want to get up and on. We are spring babies, this is our time. 
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