Moving!

Hello there, just wanted to say I’m moving! Moving my thoughts in a different direction and so have moved the thread on to Leaves2  This will be more about the things I make and design. My inspiration. My thought processes. The tah-dah moments, before introducing the things into my Etsy shop. So I hope you will enjoy watching and perhaps even find inspiration for yourselves. But if you use my pictures please ask first, I won’t bite! 🙂 Happy crafting!

A Quick Update!

Just a few words to say, watch this space for new developments on the way. Keep smiling!

Options.

Hic…. hic…. hic!!!!

I’ve got a bit of a dilemma.  A question in my mind. A bit of mulling over to do.  Do I carry on or stop? I mean to stop blogging. It’s a question I have posed a few times but this time it is different.  Why? Well I have hit my limit in my media library. Actually I hit it a while ago and didn’t twig the real reason why my photos would not upload! What did I do then? I went right back to the beginning of the library and deleted a few photos. Oh no! Not only was I deleting them from the library, I was also deleting them from my blog posts! Ooopps! No OOOOOPPPSSS! So I have started to look at the options. Mulling them over. I really need to think why am I writing a blog. Why am I showing you all the things I make and do? What is the purpose and for who’s benefit? I’m sure you can help me. 🙂

What if I wrote but didn’t post any photos? Would that work?  No I don’t think so. I am a very visual person and when I visit other people’s blogs it is the pictures that draw me in. So that isn’t an option.

What if I went to the next level of ownership? Paying a set amount a month to write and publish my photos. Well that is a possibility except the payment is taken in one hit. Hmmmm… Not an option at the moment.

What if I wait for a few months until I finish something that is in the pipeline and see where it takes me? Now that could be an option.

What do I do in the mean time? Well Lucy at Attic 24, Fi at Marmaladerose, and Suezybees have there Facebook page. So does Forever Quilts. And I do have a page for Leaf Creations by alisonb2. Hmmmm… Now that could certainly be an option.

Obviously the focus of a Facebook page would be different. It wouldn’t be quite so personal. The posts would be shorter, but I would be able to show you what I am doing in my little craft world! Perhaps that’s it! Perhaps this is the way I should go! Shall we try it and see how we go? I will have to work out the different posting aspect. Perhaps I could post a couple of photos a week of inspiration as well as my craft. That way you can see what I found in Tewkesbury and at Sudeley  Castle. Yes I’m definitely liking this option! 🙂 Please stay with me as I try things out. It may be only for a short time, until Christmas, but it will keep you, me and the Sunshine School in contact.

So where to go. Just follow the link and I’ll see you there! Leaf Creations by alisonb2

 

Hiccoughs!

Ooops! Just having a slight hiccough in the writing so sorry that Tewkesbury and Sudeley Castle are on the back burner at the moment. Hope to be with you soon! 🙂

Colour.

The thing that hit me the most about the Worcester Ceramics was the colour. Not just in the actual pieces of porcelain, but in the overall displays. They had taken great care in the positioning of the artifacts, enhancing them with props and insights into the manufacture.  The China tea was the first example….

Note the loose leaf tea scattered underneath the cups and the tea box in the background.

Move on to the full English tea table….

Elegant drapes for an elegant piece….

Perhaps not my cup of tea! But the next few photos are very much me….

Such palettes of colour….

and very inspiring….

Not just for my painting but printing is a possibility….

in gold….

and a wow!

This man showed me how it was done. Such steady hands – and mind!

All the tools of the trade!

Sitting Pretty!

We’ve been away. Just for a short stay but a very much needed one. Our little home on wheels trundled across to the Malvern hills to the little village of Hanley Swan. It has been a while since we last visited here, and we knew it was going to be quiet and restful. Just what we needed. So it was a time to soak up the atmosphere and recharge the batteries. Lots of ‘cuppas’ and sitting pretty!! Bliss……

Having said that we did venture out. Three times! Worcester, Winchcombe, and Tewkesbury. Three little trips to three special places. Lots of photos. Lots of information to process and I even heard my husband say “I’m all porcelain-ed out!” Normally it is me scooting round the museums twice, sometimes three times, while Mr A reads and reads. Every little nugget of information carefully stored ready to explain things to me on the way home. But not this time! Nope, this time he sat and waited for me. Sitting pretty!!

And this is what my trusty camera saw… well some of it. I have enough photos for several posts. Enough for you to sit pretty with your cuppa!

First stop Worcester. When you say Worcester to people several things come to mind. Cricket. Civil War. Cathedral. China. Well we missed the England Ladies one day match on the Monday – drizzle. We were all genned up on the Civil War after our trip to the new Civil War museum in Newark. (Well worth a visit). The Cathedral we visited last time, but we hadn’t been to the Worcester Porcelain museum. So twice round the ring round – yes we got lost, a multi-storey car park, a gentle stroll in the sunshine – drizzle all dried up, a cup of the finest coffee in a quirky coffee shop – note no cake, and we were ready for the audio tour. Click on the number and listen. Henry Sandon featured  on the dialogue. Philip Serrell sponsored a display. And Jamie Oliver put in an appearance in a display. Well his picture did! So for this post we’ll look at the ceramics.

All finished off by another cup of coffee and this time CAKE!

Sitting pretty!

Growing!

What lovely weather we are having, sunshine, the odd shower and the occasional breeze. We have taken to sitting outside after our dinner. Letting the coolness of the evening refresh us and relax us. It is one of those positives we can often take for granted. So while I sit I have been knitting. People often say “Oh it’s too hot to knit in the summer”, but when you have little balls of wool in lots of different colours you know you just have to keep on and discover what they will look like together!

I have finished the multi-coloured piece from the last post…..

Yes it grew quite nicely. Not into a square as I ran out of yarn for one colour, but into an oblong. (I do like that word – oblong. It went out of fashion while I was teaching and was replaced by rectangle, but it has such a descriptive sound. ooooobbbbbllloooonnnnggg!) Oops! So to go with the ooobblloonnggg, I have started another piece which is growing.

That’s not knitting! No that is the result of knitting with lots of little balls of wool. 22 colours binding together and splitting apart before coming together again.A real rainbow of colour! (It is a lot bigger now, but that is for another day.)

The colour chart on the left is what I am vaguely aiming for, called the triangle cushion. The bag/cushion debate has landed on to cushion! So the tah-dah moment will involve the spare room day bed and all its plumpiness! 🙂

I’ve called this post ‘Growing’ which implies that there are other things growing! This year I have managed to plant some seeds, and flowers and vegetables are now growing well. A friend gave me some dwarf beans and another friend three little plants. A tomato, a mini corn, and a cauliflower! While the beans have stood still and a bug has been ‘at’ the leaves the other three are growing well.

Food and water have  duly been administered and boy are they thirsty!

Being thirsty cropped up in my quiet time this morning. Jesus asked the Samaritan women for a drink while at the well (John 4). He ended up telling her about the ‘living’ water He could give to her… and to us. To grow in our faith and love for Him, we need to admit our mistakes, ask for forgiveness and be filled a fresh with this living water. So as I potter watering the plants I remember what Jesus said to the lady…

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Happy watering!

 

Beginnings.

I have started two new projects recently. Having enjoyed my course Swathed in Stitch with Karen, I finally found the time and the ‘get up and go’ to cut and snip; to hook in and out; and to press, fold and pin. The Prairie Points are pointing and I just love the turquoise of this linen. So the piece is now set and the hand sewing can begin….

A few bullion knots and lots of French knots are first on the list and then a review.

At the same time I have been clicking the needles. At one point I had 12 – yes 12- little balls of wool on the go. A trip to the library had given 4 new books recently added to the shelves, and popped into my bag. Yes I have been trying before I buy. Kaffe Fassett is well known for his colour and pattern and textures. I have drooled over many of his patterns and have at least two of his books. BUT I have never dipped my toe and had a go, always dismissing it as too difficult. Well, this book Knitting with the Colour Guys has inspired me to have a go. I picked out the Shadowbox pattern cast on and click click, began a new adventure….

I’m nearly there. It will need blocking to make it lay flat. It could be a cushion panel as the book suggests, but it could also be a bag panel. Cushion? Bag? Cushion? Bag? Watch this space…. 🙂

Meanwhile….

… inside my hook has been hooking, my needle has been stitching and the sewing machine has been whizzzzzzing! And oh yes the knitting needles have been flying too!

I’ve finally finished the blue yarn that was in the basket. A jacket for the cooler moments with collar and toggles. Lovely and soft an warm.

The sun burst hexagons have multiplied and in flower garden fashion are developing into a throw.

Nimble fingers and patience was needed for these hanky pockets.

Inspired by my first patchwork machine class, I’ve been back to play. The disappearing hour glass this time.

And I forgot my Art Class! I have not been able to go every week but did catch the demonstration by Susan Sareen.  Her paintings are beautiful and her hints and tips are proving very helpful to all the group. Since then I have been working on my Arab man. Considering that I avoided people in my pictures until I decided last September to stop wimping out!! – I’m quite pleased with how he has gone.

So although I have been away, I have been busy! Happy May time!

Here today and gone tomorrow!

Yes here today and gone tomorrow – or rather here several moons ago! I have had these photos on my camera for two or three weeks and have just not got a round to posting them. The Flowering Cherry, or is it Almond blossom, was stunning this year. So I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy…

All taken in the evening sun. Can you see the moon? 🙂