The great outdoors

 





Since I last posted, a fortnight ago, I have been, as usual, very busy.   I finished the black velvet bag and sent off its photo to the lady who commissioned it.  




 

The prototype iPhone case which I finished did fit Liz's phone so I completed a few more as well as two or three kindle cases.  All these went to Lark Lane with us on Saturday 23rd.    One lady, who bought a felt covered sketchbook, would like an iPhone cover making in felt too, so I'll make that and take it with me in July. 

On Friday, 22nd, I went with two friends to Cockermouth to visit the 'Woolfest'  - an annual event which I've wanted to visit for some time.   It was a long journey and the road conditions were awful due to the torrential rain which never let up all day.   A nightmare for Annette who was driving - it must have been extremely stressful and tiring.    We all really enjoyed seeing the exhibits and trade stands, never have I seen such an array of sik and wool in such beautiful colours.   There were sheep, alpacca, goats and rabbits together with spinners, dyers, weavers, knitters and feltmakers by the dozen.   I came home with some wool and silk fibres and can't wait to get felting.

Last Friday, Liz and I went to the Craft Fair and Vintage Market in Ormskirk.   We were outside where the usual market is on Thursdays and Saturdays.   The weather could have been kinder and, I suppose, could have been worse.  As we were setting up, and in the early part of the day, it rained.   When it rains the water collects on the top of the covers in great pools and eventually has to come down - it came down in great quantity on top of Liz - three times!   By the afternoon, it had dried up,  but then we got a very strong, swirling wind and our time was spent chasing articles being blown away.   By the time we left, we were exhausted - we didn't know we had to take our own chairs so spent nearly 8 hours on our feet.   We'll know better next week when we're there again - I hope the weather's better.

Kindle case

My intention, during next week, is to make some more lavender bags, glasses cases and a couple of scarves - we'll see! 



Kindle case

Kindle casen

Fathers' Day

Today, I went to see the Liverpool Embroiderers Guild exhibition at Liverpool Cathedral.   I'd dragged my poor, long-suffering husband there, even though it was Fathers' Day, so I bribed him with a Chinese take-away when we got home.   Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the exhibition was being taken down.   Apparently, the Cathedral authorities had asked for it to be cleared today rather than tomorrow.  Despite the fact that some of the exhibits had been removed, there were enough to make our journey worthwhile and the patient helpers did not object to us wandering around whilst they worked.   There was some really interesting work and techniques on show, not just embroidery,  felt, patchwork and weaving etc.

My main focus in the last few weeks has been making the commissioned bag.   It is made from black velvet and has an appliqued white flower on the front.   Velvet, whilst being wonderful to look at and gorgeous to touch, is a devil to sew.   Before I use it again for anything other than decoration, I must find out the best way of working with it - it cannot be pressed or ironed in any way (that I know of), so it has been something of a challenge.

I've also made a prototype iphone cover which, if  it fits (I'll have to borrow an iphone to check), will spur me on to make some more to take to Lark Lane on Saturday and probably to Lancaster on 30th.

On Friday, I went to a felting group which was good -  lots of ideas and encouragement shared, and I had a 'play' with a drum carder - it's used to prepare wool for felting.   I also made a small piece of inlaid felt using a technique I'd not used before, and I was pleased with the results.  The piece will probably end up as another book cover - I'm going to embellish it a bit first.   I hope to join the group when they resume in September so that I can move my felting on a bit more.   

Jubilee Weekend



blue silk bag

'treasure bag' for a bride

After the excitement of seeing the Olympic Torch (twice) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent at Craft Fairs.    Saturday’s was at the Equestrian Centre at Aintree Racecourse so it was almost local.   There weren’t a lot of people about and those who came along were generally more interested in the horses than the crafts!   



On Sunday, we went to Alston Hall College near Longridge.    We were meant to have a table in the Craft Marquee but, when we arrived it had blown away during the  night and we were re-located inside the Hall.   What a shame that the weather was so dreadful, so much work had been put into the event and the setting was so lovely.   However,  some people did brave the rain and there was a steady flow of people during the day.    As well as selling some cards, a print and a scarf, I got a commission for a bag – so that’s next week's project.

Trains and boats and planes part 2

Today, finally, the missing suitcase arrived.   What a relief!   As well as all the dirty laundry, it contained essentials such as my address book, phone charger, makeup, curling tongs, costume jewellery and battery charger for the camera.   The washing's done and I can get back to concentrating on some crafts.     

On our holiday, we flew to Calgary and then a coach took us to Banff where, after an overnight stay, we boarded the Rocky Mountaineer train for a 2 day journey through the Rockies.       Spectacular scenery and, on the first morning, we saw elk and, quite close to the tracks, a brown bear.   We stayed overnight in Kamloops and then boarded the train again the next morning and said goodbye to Doug English, a travel writer, who we'd met at Calgary airport.  That day we saw osprey and lots of bald eagles, and the scenery was magnificent again.

We left the train in Vancouver (a lovely city) and, after an overnight stay and a very quick look round , we boarded our cruise ship bound for Alaska.   Our first stop was Ketchican where, apparently, it rains almost every day.   The scenery as we sailed up the Inside Passage was beautiful, snow-capped mountains dipping into the sea.  

At Icy Strait Point, we went on a guided wildlife walk.   We saw a deer and then we saw a lone bear.  A little while later another family of bears was spotted, a female with 3 cubs, we watched them through our binoculars for quite a while.   After we returned to the port we went whalewatching.    Although it was raining and quite cold we stood on deck looking out for the tellltale water spouts and, sure enough, we came upon a female humpback and her calf.   It was so exciting.   After watching them for a little while we went further afield and there were any number, the sound of their breathing was quite loud and when they breeched and slapped those great tails down everyone cheered.  

Our next port of call was Juneau, for a capital city it was tiny.   While we were there we visited the most amazing patchwork shop, Changing Tides.   I have never seen such a selection of fabrics, some of the batik fabrics were gorgeous.  Although very tempted, I didn't buy anything because, literally, I could not have chosen a few, I would have bought the whole shop.    While we were there, we also looked in at a gallery and saw some wonderful paper collage landscapes by Sherri McDonald who lives in Juneau - they were really beautiful and very delicate.  

Our last stop was in Skagway where we had booked a trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railway to the 3000 ft summit.   As on the Rocky Mountaineer, Pete and I spent most of our time on the little observation platform at the rear of the carriage.  The railway is an amazing feat of engineering as it climbs through steep snow covered passes and over dizzyingly high trestle bridges.   In some places there were 12 ft walls of snow and, when we got to the to, it snowed on us.   

Our last day on the ship included a couple of hours watching the Hubbard Glacier.   The glacier is huge and, with the sun on it, such wonderful shades of deep blue through to palest turquoise.   We could hear it rumbling and creaking as it 'calved' great pieces of ice into the sea.  

Finally, we reached Seward, said goodbye to our lovely Assistant Waitress, Vidaylin,  and embarked another spectacular train journey to reach Anchorage airport to fly to Seattle for an overnight stay before leaving for Manchester via Washington DC. 

Reaching Manchester, we said goodbye to John and Mo with whom we had spent most evenings and met Liz who had come to take us home.

After a week's rest it's back to business - turquoise bag finished, a couple of felt bowls made and the prospect of two Craft Fairs this weekend.   I really will post some pictures next time. 

Trains and Boats and Planes

Just a quick update.    Since 8th May, I have been on holiday.  We went to Canada and then Alaska.   The scenery and wildlife were spectacular and the weather was very kind to us.    I'll certainly be writing a lot more about it when I'm less jet lag (actually it's not too bad!).   I've got lots to catch up on (including the washing when the suitcase containing it finally arrives - I think it's still in Alaska) so, apart from trying to get my photos downloaded, I haven't achieved much in the craft department since I last posted.   The beautiful jade, blue and turquoise bag is still unfinished but it is going to be really stunning.

Will post again soon - hopefully with some photos.

Bikes and Barrows on Bank Holiday

Today we went to the Bikes and Barrows Festival at Scorton, Lancashire.   We have been to Scorton a couple of times before and were happy to be returning - it's a great venue and the welcome is always friendly and helpful - especially from Joanne and Nick.   The coffee's good too!    I didn't get time to have a good look round the village but it looked as though everyone had made a great effort to decorate bikes, barrows and all sort of other things - some very imaginative and inventive and well worth a look.    

We met some of our old acquaintances, including the ladies who sell patchwork (quilts, bags, etc.) in aid of the Hospice at Knot End - I hope they made lots of money - they deserve it, their work is absolutely beautiful.   

Today, we actually sold two of Liz's Jubilee brooches - red, white and blue, crocheted flowers with a Union Jack heart-shaped button in the middle.  I think she'd better be making some more before 2nd June!  

This week I've finished off some felt brooches, a couple of cowls and I'm half way through making a small shoulder bag.   It's really lovely, diagonal strips of silk applied to a felt backing and decorated with squares of silk, sequins, machine embroidery and beads.   The colours are jewel shades of blue, turquoise and jade - it's really quite sumptuous.   Watch this space - there'll be a picture of it soon.  

Her are some pictures of the silk bookmarks I made a couple of weeks ago.  

Craft and Hobby Exhibition

I was so looking forward to the Craft and Hobby Fair at Aintree but was quite disappointed.   I had deferred my Mothers’ Day present to the show so that I could buy (yet another) a craft book but there were no booksellers there (there’s always one or two)!   Also, there seemed to be far fewer exhibitors and certainly there was nobody selling threads or quilting equipment – so I didn’t cross much off my list despite being there all day.   However, there were some very interesting displays by various groups and, although there were very few textile artists, some of my favourites were there – Jane Davies, Wendy Dolan, Valerie Hughes.   We also visited Felicity Howatson’s  stall (3 times) and went to hear her excellent lecture on machine embroidery on soluble fabric – I came home full of enthusiasm and inspiration.   Give me time and the results will appear!

kindle cover

kindle cover

i phone case

We were at the Craft Fair at Lark Lane on Saturday,  there were a lot of new craftspeople there as well as the ‘old hands’ who it was good to catch up with.   I took the new items which I’d made.   There were 18 hand painted silk bookmarks, a couple of kindle cases, a mobile phone cover, an evening bag , a felted book cover and a wall hanging.   We also took the 3 glasses cases  - two in the shape of fish (the heads forming the flap)  whose pictures are at the end of the blog.    Only the glasses cases and the wall hangings got much attention.   There were more people about than last month, apparently, although they weren’t spending much.   I am beginning to think that the recession is beginning to bite really hard now.  

I’m in the process of completing another book cover, needlefelted  this time and I’ve bought a supply of glittery ladder yarn to knit some cowls – I’ve finished one and hope to have another one or two finished this week in time for our visit to the Bikes and Barrows Festival in Scorton, Lancs.    We are really looking forward to our visit – we’ve been there a couple of times before – it’s close to the Trough of Bowland and is a lovely little village.    http://scortonvillage.com/#/whats-on-events/4548209297