INSPIRED TO STITCH - an exhibition of mixed media textile art from 1 - 31 March 2012

Still working hard on my exhibition pieces and accessories
for the days when I will be attending

I will be at the exhibition on these dates and times

Thursday 8th March (12.30 - 4 pm)
Tuesday 27th March (2 - 5 pm)

Jo will be at the exhibition on these dates and times
Monday 12th March (11 am - 4 pm)
Tuesday 20th March (12 - 5 pm)

an additional selection of textile work will be available for sale on the dates above ... such as wearable art, scarves, jewellery, my textured art hearts, original art cards and prints, textile inspiration packs, textile art supplies and lots of my beads to handle

we would love to meet you on those dates ♥

in snowy mood

today for Mosaic Monday I'm
in snowy mood

please do visit the work of these amazing artists on flickr
1. snow in Venice 2. no winter blues here 3. ice face 4. .

and please do see my post below for more snow
have a fab Monday ♥

December

December was a very busy month

we had stressful conveyancing and legal things going on
lots of paperwork and contracts to push around
lots of typing and "swearing" of documents
it took up a lot of my time

whenever I had any spare time I made snowflakes for friends
and one or two for our own tree

I decorated our tree quite late this year ...
around the 10th December which is pretty late for me ...
but it looked lovely when it was finished

on 13 December my friend Rosie came over for the day

we just managed to walk down into St. Ives
before it poured with rain (big blobs)

we took shelter in a cafe on the seafront
where we steamed up the windows
with fish and chips and a mug of tea

it was bitter cold too
we did Christmas shopping

and admired the festive displays
in the shop windows in Fore Street

then had more tea
and a hot mince pie with Cornish clotted cream
in Madeleine's Tea Room

(necessary ... of course)

thank you for a lovely day Rosie ♥

in December

I made a seaside heart
the first one for a while ... and a little different
using some beautiful chiffon fabric my friend Cathie gave me

the chiffon had swirls of aqua sparkles which
made me think of waves and as it's been so windy
I was thinking how the winter wind
whips up the sea creating larger than usual "rollers"

the winter sea air carrying a saltiness

I layered it up with scrim, melted chiffons
and a little bit of my own hand dyed silk
free motion embroidery
lots of aqua and blue seed beads
and french knots

the beaded dangly is a "scrumble" of peyote
in various tones of aqua, sky blue and turquoise
with turquoise accent bead

so happy this heart sold to a lovely lady in the Channel Islands

in December I created lots of different beads
and I'm pleased to say I need to make more
(hopefully next week)

such lovely seaside colours

mid December I got mild shingles
and the week before Christmas got very stressful
feeling like our conveyancing was going to fall apart
it finally completed on 21st December
and we didn't get home until 23rd December

but once home I felt a whole load better
and had a very lovely, peaceful Christmas

we had some beautiful cards this year
so many featured snow and snowflakes
and were covered in glitter like cards from Christmas past

I love all the different silver snowflakes on this one
that make up the tree

this gorgeous one is Sally MacCabe's card for 2012
from her original painting

let it snow

Christmas Eve

I only managed to make a few hand made cards
and hand delivered them on Christmas Eve

an inch of snow - for Sally
some of my cards featured snow and snowflakes too

I had coffee with Sally
mmm ... she does make a great cup of coffee!

and I popped in to see Lesley at Art Space with a card
and met her lovely mum

it was a grey day ... cold fingers and toes ...
the snowflakes on the gallery window gave me an idea ...

we haven't had any snow in St. Ives yet this winter
it's quite a rare thing in this part of Cornwall
so I created some snow magic on my Christmas Eve
photos of the harbour

a snowy baby seagull

snow ... on a winter beach

I got these inspiring and beautiful cards in Art Space

they are the work of Sara Pound

I fell in love with Sara's starlings and bought this card

St. Ives starlings are such friendly birds
it's possible to sit on the beach by the cafes
and hand feed them crumbs of cake ... they are so tame

it was lovely to see you Lesley ♥

Christmas arrived and I had some wonderful books

from my lovely friend Jo ♥
I was thrilled to receive Angie Lewin's "Plants and Places"

I adore Angie Lewin's nature prints of seedhead shapes
so very inspiring

and was delighted to find a whole section of her work
dedicated to the coast and seaside finds

books are probably my most favourite presents
and from my darling hubby I received

Kim Thittichai's "Layered Textiles"

straight away this project jumped out at me
using painted bondaweb on canvas
it would lend itself to a seacape

Dawn Thorne's book "Transparency in Textiles"

loving this project that reminds me of the scrumble
of flotsam and jetsam I often find tangled up on the beach
sea glass mixed with seaweed and wire ... yummy!

Sarah Tuttle's "Exhibition 36"

this beautiful mixed media book of techniques
demonstrations and explorations

and a book I shall save for picnics on the rug at Godrevy
a beautiful summer read

The Day of the Storm - Rosamunde Pilcher

Rosamunde Pilcher was born in Lelant, which is only a few miles outside of St. Ives, so when she writes about Cornwall I can lose myself in her stories imagining that she is writing of St. Ives and this very pretty part of Cornwall. All of Cornwall is beautiful, of course, but this area of outstanding natural beauty has a very special pull
on my heart strings ... and yours too ... I know!

snowflakes in St. Ives

on 28th December Jo and I had our Christmas crow day
thank you so much for a lovely day Jo ♥

a very special day swapping pressies and cards
a stitched angel that I will share on my red blog ...
the Angie Lewin book and some red mittens ...

so very welcome ...
because it was absolutely freezing ...
when we went for a winter walk in St. Ives taking photos
which will be a base for textile art work for our exhibition
in The Library, St. Ives in March 2012

"inspired to stitch"

a very Happy Christmas to you - a card for Jo

and my year ended on a lovely note
with a beautiful swap with Mimilove

who stuffed a budgie through my letterbox
isn't he gorgeous!!

he is painted on fabric with lovely embroidery stitches
and adorned with sequin flowers and a bell
in a stitched and stuffed budgie cage

he is so like a budgie called "Beauty" (that we had as kids)
who sat on top of the mirror looking down at himself
and telling himself he was a "pretty boy"

"Beauty, pretty boy"

what a beauty

Mimilove
I adore your gift - thank you ♥

well that's December and 2011 all caught up with

thank you for visiting and reading my ramblings
January is already looking good ...
hope you come back and visit again soon ♥

Mosaic Monday

happy new year
let's hope it's a good one

winter light for mosaic monday

1. Lystskoven 2. gentle snowflake 3. Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful ~ Norman Vincent Peale 4. sycamore seeds 5. means 6. covered with frost 7. guy fawkes night 8. frosty 9. onto 10. Victorian romance - 5 of 5 11. bittersweet november 12. twiggy things 13. gold silk

my December catch up is on it's way
then there will be exciting new projects
more sketchbooks
seaside hearts
and beads

happy new year everyone!

November

I think of November as a brown month
not in a dreary soggy leaves and damp weather sort of way
but of golden brown leaves and bare branches
and glamorously ploughed fields
(have you ever looked closely at how neat they are)
rich and earthy
decaying ... but also renewing

A winter walk

1. Five cool trees - freshly ploughed Scottish field 2. Sycamore seeds 3. Chocolate drops 4. Last summer's souvenir 5. 1 rainy morning in the park 6. Winter day 7. Soft beauty 8. Bound 9. Making hay, 10. Mr. Gunston 11. Untitled, 12. Hiver 13. My life is like a picture left out too long in the sun

in autumn when the trees are brown
the little leaves come tumbling down
they do not make the slightest sound
but lie so quietly on the ground
until the wind comes puffing by
and blows them off towards the sky

the winds will blow their own freshness into you
and the storms their energy
while cares will drop away from you
like the leaves of Autumn

Autumn days are here again
John Muir

a time for hibernation
and preparation for winter proper
of logs and kindling
Guy Fawkes, bonfires, toffee
and chocolate, of course ;o)

personally ... it was a very bad November for me

for it was on a bright and sunny day in a garden
with a gorgeous show of autumn colour
that we gave thanks for the life of my darling Nanny

feeling emotionally drained and so, so tired
our journey back to Cornwall
turned into a horrific night that I shall never forget
when we were affected by that terrible accident
on the motorway on November 4th

a foggy night, the air was thick with bonfire smoke
fuzzy orange street lights blended
with so very many flashing blue lights too

the accident happened just two minutes in front of us ...
and we just knew it was gonna be a bad one
from the speed of the ambulances rushing to the scene

we were diverted off of the motorway
just before the accident and spent
the next hour trying to get across Bridgwater
all roads were closed for the town's annual carnival
we spent an hour on what would normally
have been a five minute journey across town
everywhere the air was thick with grey fog and smoke
so eery ... so surreal
blue flashing lights on every road

the weather was filthy that night
we had already asked each other
why do people drive so fast in such bad conditions?
(cars were speeding past us 90-100 mph)
some drivers just don't make allowance for poor weather

to wake next morning and hear on the news
the full extent of that horrific accident really shook me up
I just can't get it out of my head ... still
I will never forget that day

♥

less than a week later we were on the road again
we were away several days with family
for a special 65th birthday party in Berkshire
so nice to spend time with loved ones
in happier circumstances

golden browns in my palette

in November I hid away
painting and melting
making beads

stash sorting and admiring

stitching

and losing myself in the magical world of flickr

in November
I had a thing about owls
I think I'd like to make an owl next year
we have one in the garden that sits on the pointy bit of our shed
and I like to lay in bed and listen to it calling

this was the last mosaic of Autumn
and also the last one I made in 2011

1. Luka the owlet 2. barn owl 3 - tyto alba edit 3. maple leaves & bokeh square 4. owl progress 5. the bones of us living 6. embroidered button 7. journal spread close up 8. owl necklace 9. honestly 10. great horned owl 11. ChiLL ing OuT.... 12. empire owl cushion 2009 detail of back 13. ginny and the owl 14. owl poems, 15. we left our love in our summer skin 16. vine 17. lucien the fox - felt art toy 18. untitled 19. cottonwood flyers b 20. basket of nature owls close up 21. back to the book of boo 22. mummy family 23. misty sunset 24. || 25. promenade

in November
the weather was mostly dark, rainy and blustery
but a handful of golden sunrises led to brighter days

a Cornish sunrise over the neighbouring cottages

on such days I "pottered" in the garden

looking closely
making discoveries

love these rosehips

I had a little play in photoshop

it's another world I lose myself in

I find it really relaxing to take a boring photo
add a texture and bring it to life

in November

I bought a pomegranate
and let it dry out for a few days
pomegranates have such wonderful tones and textures

the words come from Wind in the Willows
which has to be one of the best books ever
for curling up with in winter
I enjoyed creating a series of pomegranate studies

seedlings from the pomegranate tree

this one really enhances the leathery texture of the skin
and highlights the those warm pink orange tones

a sad month of melancholy
but there will be other autumn times to cherish

and now for December ...