Autumn

It’s a while since I posted because I’ve been away  on holiday to Paphos in Cyprus – the temperature was 32 degrees on a couple of days, so it was quite a culture shock to arrive back to distinctly autumnal weather.  Still, I’m not complaining, a week in the sun has, I hope, set me up for the winter.

Since I’ve been back, I seem to have been busy catching up.  Last Friday, I went to the felting group in Frodsham and made a felt handbag from purple and jade green merino - the colour combination works really well.   I haven’t quite finished it yet, I just need to put some beads on the flap and then I can photograph it.    

Liz has been away too so, on Sunday, I dragged my long-suffering husband to Burscough to the Fibre Fest which I think was part of Wool Week.   There were some interesting stalls there, dyeing, spinning, knitting etc.   I resisted the temptation to buy anything but a very kind lady gave me advice on dyeing wool with a particular brand of soft drink powder!   I think it comes from USA but there is a company on the net which supplies it and I have ordered some sachets so that I can experiment.

We have been accepted to display some of our items at the Best of Northern Art Exhibition at a Gallery in Times Square, Warrington (opposite Games Workshop) so, on Wedneday, Liz and I went to set up in time for the opening this Saturday.   It’s a lovely space, light and bright and the staff were so friendly and helpful – they deserve every success.   We’ve put lots of prints, scarves, bags, brooches and books there that I hope we haven’t left ourselves short for the 2 fairs we have this weekend.  I mean to get busy this afternoon and finish off the felt bag and the glasses case and pumpkin bowl I made yesterday afternoon.  I’m even going to try to make a couple of book covers as well.

Catching up

This week, because of all that terrible rain, we haven’t been able to get out much so I resolved to use the time when I would normally have been out walking, catching up with all the things I keep putting off!   It worked up to a point, I contacted all those people who I have been meaning to catch up with for ages, I tidied up a bit and I even made progress with the mountain of photographs which I have been attempting to put in  chronological order.   I’ve actually got as far as the 1990’s- they are in albums but not stuck in – I’ll get round to that eventually. 

 I also did some felting – I’ve been wanting to make a longish, winter scarf for ages and I decided, in all that gloomy weather, that a bright red one would be just the job – and it is.   I used 3 shades of red  and added small accents of green merino and decorated it with silk fibres and fabric, tulle, and yarn  and I’m really pleased with it.  It’s bright and warm looking and I'm sure it will make a lovely present for someone for Christmas. 

 

detail of red scarf
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, Liz and I have been to a craft fair in Southport – what a lovely day, and it seemed to bring people out to browse. 

Now I’m going to get on with downloading some of the photographs I took weeks ago when we were in Northumberland.

Here are some photos of the makeup pouches I made a couple of weeks ago

Disappointment

I can’t believe that it’s the end of September already, where did that month go and what have I got to show for it?  

 

I’ve got the picture of the mask I made a few weeks ago, it peeled off the mould quite easily once it had dried – that took quite a few days – the picture of it shows it off quite well.

 

During the last couple of weeks I have been quite busy, a craft fair at Lark Lane where we did some fund raising for the  Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning,  went to see our daughter and grandson playing in a concert by Maghull Wind Orchestra at the Palm House in Sefton Park, and  a little bit of felt making and sewing.

 

I’ve been experimenting with nuno felting on different fabrics from my stash – I’m not even sure what fibres they’re made of.Some work better than others and some don’t really work at all which is disappointing.However, my first real attempt was using some printed synthetic floaty fabric which I’d picked up somewhere or other!It is cream with a random pattern in blues and gold so I decided to make a felt edged scarf from it.

detail of the nuno felt scarf
 

 

  I mixed white with three different shades of blue merino for the border and then made a few random circles in gold and turquoise and wisps of dark blue and turquoise all over. Once it was dry, I machine embroidered just inside the edge with a variegated blue thread. The texture of the scarf is wonderful and I’m delighted with it. I also made a felt book cover in red and oranges which I embroidered with freehand machine stitch in a leaf design.  

 

 

 

 

I’ve been trying to use up some of my scraps  of fabric and, so far, I’ve made 4 zipped make up bags and 3 iphone pouches and a covered 2013 diary  - I hope it's not too early for such things but   I am determined to free up some space somehow!

Last Friday, we heard that we have not been accepted for the Winter Arts Market at St. George’s Hall in the centre of Liverpool, this year.   We enjoyed last year’s event so much and were really looking forward to it again this year, however, apparently, there were so many applicants that the organisers couldn’t accommodate everyone so we’re hoping that they may get some cancellations and that we are near the top of the waiting list – we’re keeping our fingers crossed.     

The good news is that Liz and I went to an excellent workshop on creative photography by Dianne Owen, this weekend, and we’ve just heard that we’ve both been accepted to join like-minded photographers  who have formed a  group specifically to further their creative photography.   So it’s not all doom and gloom.

Indian Summer

 Well, weren’t we lucky?   We went away to Northumbria for 4 days with some friends – who’d have thought that we’d have such good weather, it was wonderful.   On the day we arrived we had a lovely walk at Alnmouth and the next day we visited Howick Gardens on the coast, near Craster.   On our last day, we did a whistlestop tour of all the places we love on that coast – Budle Bay, Bamburgh, Seahouses, Beadnell and Dunstanborough.   The other day, we went to Newcastle itself to look at the Tyne Bridge and the Millennium Bridge.   We also went to a really interesting gallery, The Biscuit Factory, a contemporary art gallery in a Victorian warehouse -  plenty to see, paintings, photography, sculpture, ceramics, glass and some textiles; it  was a real treat.    On our way home we detoured to Gateshead to see the Angel of the North ,  Antony Gormley’s  sculpture.   Although I expected it to be big, it was larger than I had imagined and most impressive, although I  have to say it doesn’t beat Another Place which is, for me, far more moving.

Before we went away I did some felting – a book cover inspired by birch trees in an autumn landscape – which I’ve now completed only to have my granddaughter fall in love with it, so I’ve had to make another one.   Since we came home I’ve made another bookcover depicting yachts in a seascape –that was much admired today in Borrowdale.

 I have made great strides with downloading photos – I’ve even caught up enough to start working on those I took at the Motorfest – not great so far, but it was difficult to get clear shots with all those people milling about

Last Sunday,  I went on a nostalgia trip to see the church which I had attended until the mid 1950’s – it had been superseded by a modern building in 70’s and was open just for the  afternoon.  What a lot of memories it brought back, but sad to see how much it had deteriorated and how small it seemed to me 50 odd years on.   Still, there is a move afoot to attempt some restoration,  I hope it is successful.

On Friday I attended a workshop on making masks – it was very messy and great fun, my effort is presently sitting on top of the washing machine drying, very slowly.   I’m hopeful that, when it is fully dry, and I peal it off the mould, it will be quite effective.   Watch this space!

I do remember saying in a post in August, that  I was never going to do an outside event ever, ever again.  However, I had already booked and paid for today’s event in the Lake District.  The idea was to take our long-suffering husbands to Keswick for a night in a hote, l with a good meal thrown in, and then to attend the Borrowdale Show and Shepherds Meet the next day.   So, on Saturday, we left with high hopes of a pleasant walk around Derwentwater before our evening meal.   Because of a very long delay on the M6, we didn’t get to Keswick until  4.30 p.m. so a walk  was out of the question but we had a little walk around Keswick before our meal.     This morning, it only started to drizzle as we arrived at the show ground so unpacking wasn’t too awful.   Then it started, heavier and heavier, and it didn’t stop all day.    The showground got soggier and soggier, the cars had to be towed off the field which was being used as a car park and, all in all, it was pretty awful.   How sad for the organisers.   Despite the fact that we did sell a few things and, again, met some fascinating people  that is positively the last time outdoors in the English Summer..

Last Bank Holiday until Christmas

True to form, the Bank Holiday weekend was another damp squib!   Lark Lane on Saturday wasn’t too bad weatherwise but it wasn’t very busy – I think everyone had gone to the Matthew Street Festival.  

On Sunday, we braved the threatening sky and, with our husbands, we went into Ormskirk to see the Motorfest.   In the event, the weather stayed fine and was actually quite warm so we stayed quite a while, looking at all the veteran, vintage and classic cars.     Liz and I took numerous photos but it was difficult to get clear shots of the cars because there were such  crowds of people there.   I’m, hoping that I might have some half decent shots of the cars when they actually drove round the one-way system – but I haven’t downloaded them yet.   However, I have downloaded some shots from the flower show and the camera club’s outing to Southport  and there are some promising shots there.  

On Bank Holiday Monday, the four of us were going to go to Matthew Street Festival but it absolutely poured down all day, so I spent my time putting some new products onto my website.   It took forever – Liz is the expert , she seems to whiz through but I thought it was time I got into it a bit more – I suppose I’ll get quicker in time.    I still need Liz to check for any howlers though!

I can’t believe that, next week, the children go back to school – I’ll miss Adam, my grandson, who has spent quite a lot of time with us this holiday, but it will make me get back into some sort of routine again and down to a bit of serious work – that’s if I don’t get distracted by the Paralympics!

Felt brooch

Lazy bones

I have been a real lazy bones for the last ten days.   The Olympics were partly to blame – I’ve run every race, jumped every jump, thrown every missile, swum, paddled , sailed and cycled, to name but a few disciplines – I’m exhausted!    I compounded my laziness by going to Old Trafford to watch a day’s cricket at the weekend and I shall be skiving off to the Flower Show at Southport towards the end of the week as well, so not a lot achieved this week either.

A few weeks ago,  I helped one of my grandsons to make a couple of pieces of felt which I promised to make into a pencil case for him for when he starts secondary school – this week, finally, I put it together and put a zip in it – it looks super - I should have taken a photograph of it before he took it home.

I also did some nuno felt samples – I was checking which of my stash of fabrics might be suitable for the technique before I embark on any larger scale projects.    One of the samples, made using purple and  black merino on mauve chiffon, I have used to make a pretty anemone brooch with a  beaded centre.

As well as having a mammoth sort out of a drawer full of old photographs, I intend to try to make some sense of lots of clutter in my ‘workroom’ this coming week.   Wish me luck – I’ll need it.

Rain, rain, go away!

This week, like many other people in this country, I’ve been glued to television watching the Olympics so I haven’t been very productive at all.   I make the excuse that it’s only once every 4 years and won’t happen again in this country in my lifetime, so it seems a shame not to make the most of it.  

I did have one day when I made lots of jewellery using some of the beads I bought on holiday.   I think the total was 2 dozen pairs of earrings ,1 dozen necklaces/pendants and 6 handbag/phone charms.

On Saturday, we went to Bickerstock – a music festival in Bickerstaffe.   Luckily we were located in a marquee so, despite the teeming rain showers we were at least dry.    It wasn’t particularly busy for us but, among other things, I sold a felt covered sketch book which I was rather fond of and my favourite purple and pink felt scarf.   Liz sold a couple of bags and a pretty scarf.  However, I don’t think we’re music festival material, the noise levels increased as the day wore on and we were reduced to plugging our ears with paper tissues at one point!    We made our escape at about 5 o’clock with our ears ringing and our heads buzzing.

Today, we were again in a marquee at Knowsley Flower Show.    It all started very well, a lovely morning and the staff were very pleasant and even helped us unload.    The ground was quite wet when we arrived and, by the time we’d set up and  despite wearing strong walking shoes, we had wet feet.    I don’t know what time the rain really started to come down in bucketfulls but it was deafening on the canvas of the marquee.    Then the thunder and lightning started and the rain became even heavier – think Noah’s flood.    It seemed to go on forever, but the best was yet to come.   Suddenly, we realised that big pools were forming under our feet and  little rivulets were forming.   Then we noticed that, just above our heads, the canvas was beginning to sag ominously where a large volume of water had collected instead of running off.   Just as we were trying to decide on our best course of action, a member of staff arrived and ordered everyone to ‘abandon ship’ as the site was about to be closed due to flooding.    Forget women and children first, it was every man for himself.   I don’t think we’ve ever packed up as quickly (or as untidily).   We dashed for the car (that’s if you can actually dash and paddle at the same time) and crammed everything in as quickly as we could.   Getting off the site took ages, everyone, exhibitors, traders and visitors all trying to leave at the same time, some getting bogged down in the mud, but at least we were not getting any wetter.

Since coming home, I have unpacked, dried out and repacked.   If I am ever tempted to do an open air/marquee event again, I hope someone will remind me of just how risky it can be in terms of ruining all those lovely photographic prints and textiles and how very lucky we were to get back with everything intact.   And, if all else fails, remind me that were fortunate to not come home with trench foot!