Happy New Year

Christmas come and gone, and here we are on the brink of another New Year. Strange time, looking back, looking forward. I would like to wish all my friends old and new a year of contentment, fullfillment, achievement and all the other ...ments they wish themselves.

I have spent some of the time during the holiday making fabric postcards. The idea was that I would try out all those techniques that I have been promising myself to try.


This one is using a nappy liner as a background (the scan does not do the texture justice) and this one is using a table napkin as a background.


I do hope that Sharon manages to sort her spammer problems before Tuesday, (who are these sad people?)

Someone just can't wait.......

Electra seems to think that the soul purpose me spending a day decorating the Christmas tree was so that she, when bored, could dismantle it!!! This is something she hasn't done since she was quite a young cat and as she is now an elderly lady. It is lovely to see she still has a sense of mischief.


I see that Sharon says she is deliberating what stitch to use to start TAST. Not starting at the very beginning then........

I'm so thrilled.....

I have just heard that my sister has a painting on exhibition in the Lowry gallery in Manchester. It was a competion with Football as the theme called One Love.It was to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Lowry winning a competion with "Off to the Match"? My sisters painting is called Who Me.....?, the gallery link is link is and the painting can be found in the shop under Art for Sale.

There were 900 entries and only 100 were selected for exhibition, I am so proud and thrilled for her.

I have a dream..........

I have been giving a lot of thought to TAST and how I would implement the stitches. Now, until it starts, I don't know if this is going to be feasible but this is an outline of what I am mulling over.

I have a room full of "stuff" and I have been searching for something to combine all the things I love doing, ie stitching, painting, collaging etc. For some time now I have had the idea of filling a box with things I have made, I want it to be magical and exciting, the sort of thing that would delight a child on a rainy day.

At the beginning of this year I started making a book of the months of the year, which was a collagey thing,which only made it to February before my butterfly mind turned to other things and is therefore a "UFO".

Do you see where I'm going here?

I found when I was doing the encrusted CQ class that it would seem that everything I do has to have a "story" and though the sensible part of me knows stitch samplers would be a wonderful resource, I know it is not for me, my dream is to use Sharon's challenge to make something beautiful each month to put in my box, and perhaps finish the book I started.

Picture is one of my digi collages.

Take a Stitch Tuedays

Take a Stitch Tuesday is the inspiration of Sharon Boggon. Starts Tueday 3rd January 2007. It sounds to me like a wonderful way to expand and hopefully improve my embroidery skills. She has asked those who have signed up to spread the word on the basis of the more the merrier. It is a huge undertaking for her as she has promised to collate links to everyone's work. It should be very insteresting and if her class was anthing to go by great fun. Go have a look at the explanation

Here is a little seasonal example of what you can do with needle and thread.


Wouldn't you just love that beret!

Nice find...

Just browsing through my favourite blogs and came across this link on ULLABENULLA. I love this blog because you never know what you are going to find on it. She finds links to some wonderfully artisitic sites. This one is on Flickr and is called Aunty Vanya's Photos and has some wonderful textural photographs. The photos of peeling paint make me want to reach for either paint or threads to start creating a wonderful background.
The photograph below is one of my own, it was taken in Rome.

CQ blocks

Christmas cards finished(but not sent), I have managed to get back to the blocks from Sharon's class. Here are the second and fourth block completed, I think. Just have to work out how to present them.

I have found it very difficult to get a good photograph of the fourth block,just can't reproduce the depth of it.

Where do thoughts come from?.....

When I was wakened my by feline friend at 5.30 this morning I turned over and snuggled down because it was dark and the wind was howling, I then realised that I was thinking about sailors on the "hulks" carving scrimshaw . Now where did that one come from???
This is the sort of image I had in my head, this is drawn (I use the term losely)by me in paintshop pro.

Roses are blooming in..........December

Here are the roses my DH presented to me yesterday from our garden. The funny thing is that they look as though they are made of wax, perhaps they are mutating into some sort of "winter" rose species.

Christmas cards nearly done, only three weeks from today.

Gone shopping!!!

Where am I?

1st of December. Parrakeets in the trees and roses blooming in the garden, some tropical paradise........no north west Kent, England. I know we have has the odd rose out at Christmas in other years but the hanging baskets look better now than they did in the midddle of summer when we had a hose pipe ban. It has been said before " No wonder the British talk about the weather"

In an effort to get into a Christmassy mood I offer you my party hat which I made for our get together at the EG.



The penguin is a promotion item for the film "Happy Feet" which I can't wait to see, a dancing penguin......right up my street.

Back to the card production.