Mother's Day!!

Good Afternoon Everybody!!! Happy Mothering Sunday to you all. I hope that you Mothers have been spoilt rotten today, and that all you others are those doing the spoiling! It has been really lovely today and the french doors have been open for the majority of the afternoon to let in the warm fresh air.

It was hamster cleaning time too (stinky creatures)- I'm never sure if they like it or not. Maybe they are like me and hate having their beds changed (it's usually just as you get it really nice and comfortable), or perhaps they enjoy having fresh clean bedding and lots more food to fill up their houses with. Milo was certainly straight in to the middle of his food bowl!

Cheeky little thing!

Throughout today I have been sent lots of photos of things happening back in East Sussex. The family went out with my Grandmother to Eastbourne to see some Saxon bones, and Daniel appears to have adopted the fashion! Then I was sent a series of photos to do with a mutated daffodil in the back garden. It seems to have multiple layers of the yellow centre and the white outer petals. (I think it looks a bit like a fried egg.)

The Mother took a photo of the M Day parcel that I sent her. Fully of interesting and edible goodies!! I think she liked it. I think Mother's Day is always a good time to recognise just how brilliant The Mother's children are- especially me. Tee hee. Happy Mother's Day Mum!! xx

Easter Already?

Yesterday morning the Postman brought me a lovely parcel- well actually he brought me quite a few lovely things, but I will just show you my favourites. The most important one was an early Easter themed parcel from The Mother!! It had Easter chains, ribbons, felt makes, chocolates and a little felt bunny she had made herself (with a creme egg inside!!). Fantastic stuff!!! I don't know when would be to early to start decorating my Easter tree and hanging up the chains.....

Ooo thought I would sneak this in. This piece is the latest sample for my university work. Some quick (hah!) drawn thread stripes. The photo is a little outdated now as I have worked a lot more rows and techniques into the piece (the photos were taken on Friday afternoon) which is very exciting. If the tutors like the technique I may be putting it in a lot more samples!

(By Annie)

Returning to the Postman's gifts- I had my chain stitch returns as well. Funnily enough, it seemed that all three of us humble participants had the same general floral idea!! Lots of chain stitched stems. Aren't they lovely?

(By Wendy)

Grey To Orange

I don't like to start my blog posts with a gloomy grey photo (but I find living in England it is often hard not too. The light is so regularly dull and difficult for photo taking!), however, this time around it is for a good reason. Don't look now but the end of this post is full of a visual POW! We have been having some pretty radical weather lately, lots of March madness happening in the sky, including an incredible hail storm- the stones were huge!!

The trees don't seem to mind though and the blossom is exploding from the branches!! It is so pretty to see all the flower laden twigs, especially when the sun shines.

This week started with my having to do a mock interview for a potential job. I had to make my portfolio look pretty and varied and be sure to smile a lot. I think it went quite well even though it was incredibly nerve-wracking (such a wuss). The tutors were marking my 'performance' and I will get the feedback next week- fingers crossed! I treated myself to a gingerbread man for a (hopeful) job well done.

Oooh, now we come to the colourful POW(!) section! Are you ready?

Wendy sent me the most amazing flowerbed postcard!! It looks like it has all been needle felted and then embellished with stitch. the colours are incredible and I love it very much! I look forwards to getting artwork from this lovely lady, especially when she has needle felted it, because I think she is very talented at blending colours. I will have to ask her how she does it. They could be pre-blended, hand blended, hand dyed....the possibilities are endless.

Here, take a closer look...

I had such a horrible headache this morning, plus it was raining so when I had to nip out for some sugar this afternoon these flowers were a definite need. They are just so happy and vibrant!! (And the final POW! for today. Enjoy.)

Rainbows and Flowerbeds

Good Evening All!!! I cannot believe it has been a week since my last post. Where has the time gone? It has been one of those funny weeks that seems to really drag whilst you are in the middle of it, but then when you get to the weekend it has simply whizzed by.
There was a such a beautiful double rainbow outside the studio window yesterday that I forgot to photograph it until the second arc had gone and there was only one left. It was so strong though!! Do you think that the people who live behind that building found a pot of treasure in their back garden?

I have been working on a fabric postcard for the lovely ATC ladies at MixedMediaGroups_UK. This time the theme is flowerbeds and had to have a combination of fabric flowers. (A thousand apologies for the quality of the photos, it is really dark in the kitchen this evening for some reason.) I have used a combo of french knot lupin type flowers, wired ribbon anemone type flowers and some found organza calla lilies.

Hopefully the recipient will like it!!

Foggy Starts

Morning!!! How are we all on this fine Saturday? I have downgraded my tulips into a mug because the stems went all floppy- do they do this to anyone else? They just all collapsed down, right around the teapot until the petals were touching the table. It looked like something had sat on them!! I noticed they have started to do it over the side of the mug as well, most annoying. If anyone has any tips on how to keep tulips un-floppy, then do please share.

The mornings have been so foggy lately!! These photos were taken at about half past 8 yesterday and you could barely see in front of you. It was quite eerie watching people appear and disappear through the clouds.

The water vapour did make this spider web look incredible though. Zoom right in on this image and look at the little droplets on the web. How can something so delicate manage to keep its shape when there is so much water on it?

It hasn't all been grey and gloomy here. As you may know, I am an avid reader of Attic24, a fantastic crochet blog by a lovely lady called Lucy. You may have spotted her at an event she helped to organise called Yarndale, or in the pages of Simply Crochet (the magazine), where she is now a regular contributor. Her blog just turned six years old (Happy Birthday A24!!) and she posted the most amazing display of crocheted colour!

I won't show all of the photos, (you can find the post here) as you should definitely be popping over to say hi and soak up some woolly Saturday goodness. Hopefully these fabulous colour combos make up for any grey gloominess at the beginning of this post. Aren't the wreaths just spectacular?!

Studio Space

Evening All!! What do you think of my studio space? Lots of samples appearing now. I'm thinking lampshades, cushions, framed pieces, wallpapers... so exciting!! Although there is an awful lot of work to be done before the end.
I have been adding in little stitched embellishments to my vinyl pieces, creating loose lines and different textures.

We have been having such nice weather recently, although it gets really foggy in the mornings and at night. I raced home today and opened all of the doors and windows to embrace the fresh air and sunshine, I just can't help myself. Does anyone know what the little purple flower above is called? They have been popping up all over the garden, as have the grape hyacinths below.

Anchors Away

Tulips!!! Ah, it's like Spring in a teapot. The daffodils were looking a bit lonely in there this morning as I had to throw a wilting bunch away yesterday, so I topped it up with these gorgeous white and purple tulips- mixing up the colour hit!

My nimble fingers were stitching away yesterday, and I joined together the postcard square with another piece, then worked more rows of running stitch. It's quite therapeutic just doing lots and lots of running stitches and the texture is really nice with the built up rows.

Ooo but this one was a challenge. Trying to keep the blanket stitches even and relatively symmetrical took a lot of tongue sticking out concentration but I think any irregularities are sort of hidden away, and I am really pleased with the overall effect. The shape of the anchor was bondawebbed on originally, which makes it much easier to stitch around.

More running stitches! Wahoo!

Not including the anchor square (as it hadn't been started when this photo was taken), there are so many patches now!! It is getting very exciting. I am not going to stitch any of the squares together (well, unless it is expressly needed) to see if I can change a few around at the end, making my quilt more unique.