Blog Love

Saw the gorgeous Annie R today looking as lovely as ever in her beautiful, bright raincoat. She kindly told me how much she has enjoyed reading my blog which made my day! We agreed that reading people's blogs is a bit like nosing in a diary...taking a peak into someone's life and isn't it facinating?

Lucy at Attic 24 has written a lovely post about this on her blog and I urge you to go and have a nose. She writes beautifully and her pictures are so colourful they are sure to brighten even the dullest day. She says that her enjoyment of reading the blogs of others lies in the everyday details, sometimes small or mundane but none the less fasinating. (The above picture is one of hers.)

I realised after reading this that that is why I have enjoyed reading the blogs of people who have similar interests as myself. This is mainly generally creative bods with a happily chaotic family life. I take inspiration from ideas they have or things they've made, I love to hear about what is growing in their garden or a mini crisis which has occurred, a bargain in oxfam, a doodle whilst on the phone. In truth these strangers out there in 'Blogland' have become my virtual friends...but they don't even know me! This does sound pathetic, I know, and I do have lots of real friends...really I do! If you've just got into reading blogs try clicking on the blog links of one you like and it will lead you to others you'll probably find interesting. These will also have links..and so on..but be careful as it is extremely addictive!

Sweet-fest!

I regularly look after my neighbour's cat which is always a pleasure. Not only is Barnaby a lovely soppy cat but also my neighbours live in the most beautiful house which, for the 5 minutes I am there morning and evening, I like to imagine is my own! The house was designed by Lutyens and the stunning garden was designed by Gertrude Jekyll. Google image these names and you'll see what I mean...truly stunning! Anyway last week my neighbours went to New York and as thanks for all the cat sitting they presented me with these sweets from Dylan's candy bar. For a connoisseur of the pick and mix (who continues to morn the loss of Woolworths) this was a delight to behold! Turns out that Dylan's is a department store which just sells sweets...nothing else. If I was a rich, socialite (Dylan is Ralph Lauren's daughter) I like to think that I would set up a similar type of business perhaps incorporated with a Willy Wonka style chocolate factory. Yum!

Whistle Stone

I was so delighted to pick up my 'whistle, whistle..' quote today from Judith's workshop. As you can see from the pictures, it started as a piece of calligraphy which I chopped up for the layout then photocopied. Martin then cut it beautifully onto an off-cut of stone. I wrote two pieces; one using lines and one without. This is the one without and both Judith and I agreed it was much more appropriate to the nature of the text..it was 'free', like the little bird. This piece is an experiment and will be put on to canvas and made into a print...so watch this space!

Another card idea for you

Why not stick cardboard faces on things then photograph it and stick it on a card for your loved one? This really is an easy yet great little idea that can be applied to any object, for any occasion. Why not try pairs of shoes, socks, children's tummies, tins of baked beans, fruit... in fact anything! I would not recommend writing a 'comic style' fart noise onto cardboard and then trying to stick it on to a live chicken's bottom as it's nearly impossible and the chicken gets very cross.

In case you're wondering, the idea for this card came to me as a result of my need to hang a 'family' of pants on our washing line every now and again. That is, a pair of pants representing every member of our little family in a row on the line. It makes me chuckle when I walk up the path!

Calligraphy workshop

I did a lovely Wessex Scribes workshop at the weekend which was all about variations on the italic hand. We sharpened, extended and compressed it and then did it all over again experimenting with nib widths. For all you calligraphy virgins out there, that means basically changing the height of the letter but keeping the same pen size. This creates some lovely effects varying from a dense compacted hand to an elongated and elegant italic.

With such a variety of different lettering styles we wrote words words appropriate to that style. I loved the harsh, spikey, pointed italics and wrote words such as 'claustrophobia', 'anxiety' and 'frustration'. My enjoyment of the workshop meant that I was the complete opposite of the words I was writing and was thoroughly chilled out and relaxed! The photographs so some applied work with gouache on coloured pastel paper. The frosty one belongs to Francis and was so effective it almost felt cold to the touch. Louise did another gorgeously chilly piece white on black with speckled stars. The rough piece shows my experiments and the 'unforced rhythms of grace is my finished attempt.

Sunshine

The Little Girl and I had a lovely day today with our friends. When we came back our garden was bathed in some much needed sunshine and we pottered about quite happily...until we got too cold and had to come in for a cup of tea! The snowdrops looked so beautiful in the winter sun despite their dangerous position next to the Big Boy's camp fire pit...the other snow drops are under the tyre swing. I need to enjoy them while I can!

Homemade Cards

I know it's only February but so far so good on the homemade card challenge. The plan, and key to success I think, is when I sit down to make a card, I check the calendar and make at least three. I could also do with a generic 'card-for-all-occasions' design and perhaps set up a little factory line with the children and go into production. I know that the Big Girl will be up for any creative challenge but the Big Boy might need to be bribed, corrupted...possibly paid but will probably end up enjoying it despite making a fuss.

These are easy little cards to make. Starting for the bottom photo: do a bit of chunky writing with watercolours and a brush.It doesn't matter if it's a bit messy but I have found it does help if you water the colours down a little bit. Let it dry. Then with some watercolour pencils write or draw over the top of painted letters. It looks great if the drawn letters fall inside or/and outside the lines as it gives a quirky 'illustrated'look. Add some little wiggly bits, stripes, flourishes and squiggles and TA-DAH...a delightfully happy birthday card!

Old Brown Paper Lust

Love it. Gorgeous and a simple bit of recycling.See decor8

Eye Candy

Sometimes in my house, amidst the continuous chaos, there are moments of visual beauty which give me so much joy that I am stopped in my tracks. A truly beautiful moment is just that...a moment. It does not last and is hard to capture. Today I 'caught' these three:
My Sator Square and the lovely hyacinth that my Mum gave me for my birthday bathed in a sunbeam (I've almost forgotten what the sun is).Two little bantams perched, and clearly in love, in the rain. A big pile of paper in candy colours...yum.