WOYWW 149

SPRING HAS SPRUNG,

THE GRASS HAS RIZ

I WONDER WHERE DEM BIRDIES IZ.

DER BIRDS ARE ON DER WING.

BUT THAT'S ABSURD,

SURELY DER WINGS ARE ON DER BIRD?

(Spike Milligan)

Sorry, normal service will be resumed as quickly as possible.... hang on, what am I talking about, it's never normal here!!

Slight hysteria is setting in, dear bloggy pals of mine. I don't know whether it's the sap rising or Julia's hormone-ity that's rubbed off, but I'm definitely feeling a bit hoppity skippity!! 

Anyhow..the desk..

I'm making a carrier bag tube for my friend who ordered the table runner that I was making last week. It's easy to make but I hate threading the elastic through  - daft really as it's a simple job, but one I loathe doing!! 

I've been cutting the cupcake fabric to make an apron for two commissions, there was enough left over to cut out a peg bag and messenger bag as well.

Here's the finished peg bag..

It's a pretty, fresh fabric, isn't it?  I bought the blue and white spotty material in Fabricland last week and have used pretty much all of it already - but there's still the other two colours left..

They're only poly-cottons but are lovely soft tones that will be brilliant for lining bags and apron strings etc.  I'm going to have to get some more blue though!!

I finally got around to setting up my blogshop - after much 'encouragement' from Julia. If you'd like a peek, then please click here. All visitors welcome :)

As the poem says, Spring has most definitely sprung in my garden. My tree is bee-yoo-ti-ful...

All you can hear are bees buzzing around in the blossom - gorgeous!!

And finally...Julia has often said I should find another profession...

Do you think there's much call for S&M ice cream in the area???? lol...... You see, definitely too much hormone-ity  :D xx

Have a fab week!

The Shop is Open!!

It was a lot of blood, sweat and tears - and that was just setting up this new blog!!  But I actually have some stuff up for sale in my shop here.


I'm so excited! So is Harry..

He's just too cool to show it! :)

WOYWW 148

SPRINGTIME IS ON MY MIND,
FLOWERS BLOOMING ALL THE TIME,
SMELL THE ROSES, SMELL THE GRASS,
OLD MAN WINTER CAN KISS MY *!@
(From Spinal Tap - fab movie!)


On my desk today are stripes and spots!! I've had a commission to make 6 place mats and a long table runner for a friend. She came over and spent a happy half hour rummaging through my fabric and chose this combination. Bright and breezy!!

The craft fair last weekend went reasonably well (given the petrol situation AND a competing fair at Marlborough College). I made some cushions for the first time ever and they went well.

The Union Jack fabric looks good whatever I make in it!

As does the Punky Jack (my nickname for it!) and the stripy. Think I'll make some more of these!

I bought some fabric last week - well, there's shocking! The cupcake fabric is another commission for an apron for a mad keen baker and I just liked the other one. It's the same colourway as the very popular doggy fabric, so we'll see how it makes up. But I still haven't found a cat fabric at all!! Turned up zip, nada, rien, zilch on that score. Definite gap in the market for any textile designers out there :)

Even though the temperatures have fallen this week, my tree has started to show his blowsy, feminine side! The blossoms are just peeking through - I like the faint moon just below the branches.

Other signs of Spring are the daffodils and celandines on our long hazel hedge bank.

The bank is our garden boundary and is a very old hedge line - you can see it on all the old maps of our village. When we bought the house, the hedge was in a right old mess, so DH and I read up about hedge laying and set to. We're really proud of it, must take a bigger pic to show you sometime.

Finally. I'm in the process of setting up a blog shop and was taking some photos of stuff yesterday. I was trying to take an arty shot of one of the cushions when someone felt they could add a certain cuteness to the scene....

He's thinking 'But you couldn't POSSIBLY afford to buy me!'

I'm thinking 'Harry, me dear ol' mate - you're so cheap, you'll be anybody's for a tin of tuna and a tickle under the chin....' !! Sounds like someone else I know!!

Hope you all have a great week :D xx

WOYWW 147

LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY,
MOTHER OF THE FREE...
There are Union Jack products everywhere at the moment - so I'm not going to miss that opportunity!
Hence my desk:

Union Jack shopping/beach bags under construction! A few more handles ready to go as well. There's a production line going on :)
The finished article:

Just a plain ol' bag (bit like me really!!) but hopefully the funky fabric will catch a few eyes next Saturday. I should have used something to pad out the bag to make it look better as it has a gusseted bottom - ooer missus, haven't we all?! It does stand flat when there's shopping etc inside.


I had some old Australian friends come to stay this past weekend. We met 25 years ago on a camping tour around Iceland and learned a life lesson - if you give your address to Australians, they always come to stay!! Mind you, we reciprocated and spent a wonderful month being shown around Queensland staying with Bruce and his family a little later on.
Anyhow, Bruce and his mum, Shirley, came to stay,while Bruce's wife, Erna stayed in Holland with her family. Erna had never sewn in her life until a few years ago and now THIS is what she produces....

I am truly in awe of the skill needed to make this. Erna, you are a true artist, it is just beautiful. It's a single bed quilt and was made for her nephew in Holland. I simply would not have the patience to create something like that - it's astonishing. I thought you'd like to see it.
But I had a prezzy too...

No, it's not some strange feathery migrant...

It's a Dutch Owl!! He is a pin cushion, complete with little pouches for scissors and stands up on cotton reel feet - isn't he gorgeous?? And again, incredibly well made. I wouldn't know where to start.... Here's a real close up...

Erna's got some all singing, computerised machines - but her choice of colours is what makes him such fun. Thank you, Erna - he's a hoot :)


And finally, what a weekend..gorgeous weather, makes you feel so much better in the beautiful sunshine. And it wasn't just me who felt like that!! My two red haired boys catching some rays!!

Hope you have a wonderful week xxxx

WOYWW 146

IT'S SO GOOD TO BE BACK HERE AGAIN,
HAVING FUN WITH ALL MY FRIENDS,
WHEN EVERYBODY SAYS HELLO
YOU KNOW THERE'S NOWHERE ELSE TO GO.
IT'S SO GOOD, YEAH, IT'S SO GOOD,
IT'S SO GOOD TO BE BACK HOME AGAIN....
(The Tourists)
After all the decorating, now it's time to put it all back!

Here's my desk under piles of fabric - am loving all the fab Union Jack material that's out there at the moment.  I've got to get a shift on though as a craft fair is looming on 31st March - I'm just going to do loads of tote bags, aprons, carrier bag holders, peg bags - nowt fancy, like.
I've really enjoyed seeing the zentangles and other black and white art that's been shown in recent weeks. I used to draw all the time and decided I had to try again. So here's my Wiltshire inspired 'Barrow Tree'

It's very much a work in progress! I'm fascinated by the way that these clumps of trees grow on Bronze Age round barrows in Wiltshire. You really don't see it much in other parts of the UK. The tree clumps on the horizon just symbolize my home county - this whole area is just so ancient with the earliest traces of human activity.

Some clumps near Avebury, just by the Ridgeway path,

The oldest, continually used pathway in the UK - 5,000 years of human movement, along the edge of the Wiltshire downs eastwards for 70 miles. It gives me great pleasure to walk the same path as our ancestors...


WARNING: LOTS OF DAY OUT PICS APPROACHING FAST!!
It was just G3 and I for Mother's day as DH is on night shift at the moment. We had a Grand Day Out! Lacock, a really old fashioned place, is about 30 minutes away. You may recognise it from being used as a film/TV location in Pride and Prejudice, Cranfield, War Horse etc. There are no TV aerials or satellite dishes in this first shot!

I love the huge piece of tree involved in the construction of the roofline of the cottage!  Here's G3 in the clink and a steampunky clock in someone's front door!!

Then we paid a visit to Lacock Abbey which was an Augustinian Nunnery

that was converted into a house after the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry V111. The cloisters are there - you may recognise them from the Harry Potter films...

It's easy to walk along here and not look up at the roof bosses, they're beautifully carved and very interesting. It was a very wealthy establishment and so no expense was spared.

 I loved this owl, who has caught something tasty..

 And it never ceases to amaze me how many pre-Christian symbols are present in churches and monastories. Here's a very fine Green Man..

And a Mermaid combing her beautiful tresses with mirror in hand. I wonder what the nuns must have thought, looking at this creature, so different to the life they were accustomed too. Jealousy? Who knows...

But my favourite 'find' was nothing posh or high church - it's the mark of someone who built it.

Now that stretches across the centuries to me more than any finery. After all, this person lived a mere 35 generations away, still so close to you and me.

Have a wonderful week xxxx

WOYWW 145

CAN YOU SING WITH ALL THE VOICES OF THE MOUNTAINS?
CAN YOU PAINT WITH ALL THE COLOURS OF THE WIND?
(Pocahontas, Disney)
After three weeks away, it's great to be back for a fortnight. Then maybe back to Wales again, we'll have to see how my mum improves...
But I'm really looking forward to cruising the desks today - I've missed you all. The fun, laughter, creativity, mess, crafting - and that's just Julia :)


DH and I are in the midst of decorating our long room, which is a combination of spare room, office and sewing area; here is my desk in all its Un-glory.

An action shot of DH fixing the curtain poles back up. It all looks a bit stark! I'm going to buy some new curtains (I know I could make them but just haven't got the time or inclination at the moment..) That's MY green tool box on the desk btw - I got fed up of never finding tools in the chaos of the garage, so bought my own set that's kept in the house. DH can use it....IF he's been very, VERY good... ;)

Blimey - what a tip! Next task is to sort this lot out. Aprons, peg bags, band jackets/puffas, the Big O's cosplay costume, wadding, cushions, spare hangers - I may be some time....

This is the route of a regular walk around our village - we call it the Yellow Brick Road - DH took a great pic of these chooks rummaging in the woodland..

*Cue the Bee Gees*

'Well you can tell by the way I use my walk,

I'm a woman's man, no time to talk!'

What a fine wattle...

And birdie pic No 2 taken at sunset in our garden,

This little chap, singing his heart out - simply beautiful.

And finally, I know there's no blatant advertising allowed on WOYWW, and so I hope I'm not bending the rules here, but before I put these on Ebay, is there anyone interested in three Candace Bahouth 'Klimt' needlepoint kits? They are for cushion fronts, about 15X15". Two are unopened, all yarns etc untouched.

 

This Klimt 'Taupe' kit was opened. but again all present and correct, everything is in its virgin state. They were between £30 -£40 new (in fact, still are on the Ehrman website) but I'm asking £15 each plus p+p. Email me if you're interested!

Ah, it's good to be back :)

Have a great, crafty week!

WOYWW 143

Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau Yn Annwyl i Mi,
Gwlad Beidd a chantorion, enwogion o fri,
Ei gwrol ryfelwyr, gwladgarwyr tra mad,
Trod ryddid collasand eu gwaed.
(Welsh National Anthem)
I'm away at my mum's again this week (she's doing well for an 86 year old but it's been a lot of work...) so haven't got a desk to show you...but as it's March 1st tomorrow, in honour of the National day of St David, the patron saint of Wales, I thought I'd share this with you to give you a laugh!

Yup, I am soooo old that this is in black and white!! I'm four, all dressed up in my best national costume for the celebrations at school. Awwwww, bless :)
I have been knitting for Wrap up a Kid (see WOYWWer Jackie's blog) and these are the results of my labours all ready to send off to The Kids Company. There's a pair of wristwarmers and beanie hat in each colourway. Hope they're useful.

Thanks to DH, G3 and Ron for modelling! If the cat's looking grumpy, it's because he had two teeth out at the vet's the previous day!
This is where my folks live, just an ordinary small Welsh town, but it's a nice place where everyone knows you and stops to chat :D

As I am incommunicado for another week (the internets can't cross the border, you see, LOL), if you are kind enough to leave a comment on this scheduled post, I can't return the compliment until next week. Sorry....
Hope you have a fab week xx