Hello. It's been a nice day here today, mostly sunshine with a little bit of cloud. The light mornings are getting earlier so I am getting up earlier. I love the mornings. I'm changing my routine a bit as well, instead of having a coffee then putting on the computer, I am now doing my three miles after the coffee and bun. The morning air is really fresh.
I decided to stay around the house and do a bit in the garden today. I have an idea for a garden sculpture, I can picture it in my mind, but not really sure how to put it together. This new table is very handy for outdoor projects.
I have gathered a few pieces of wood together. The whole thing will be painted, but not sure if I should paint first and screw together after. That pink looks nice.
Maybe I should screw together first because some of the paint could get damaged if I screwed after painting. Not sure if this is going to work. It will take a while, I need to think of a plan.
Two walks done today, I did a second one this afternoon. I am making a new page for the blog, it will have pictures of my arts and crafts. Another job that will take a while, I have lots of pictures. My picture filing system is not great. I will get there eventually.
That's the holidays over, I hope you had a good one. Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
Hello. Have you seen those flowers on a stick things that you can put in a plant pot or stick in the garden? You can get them from the £1 shops and discount stores, a bit of cheap tat to brighten up your garden. I thought I would have a go at making them, here we are, I made five today and they cost me nothing.
Here's some instructions in case you fancy having a go. You need some flower shapes in three different sizes, small, medium, and large. I trace mine onto greaseproof paper, copied from magazines. You need colourful aluminium drinks cans, cut off top and bottom with small scissors, and cut up the side to make a flat piece. Put the pattern on the top and prick out the outline with a map pin. Then cut out the flower with small sharp scissors. Nail scissors are ideal for this.
Next you want a button, a piece of wire about ten inches long, and some tape. I've got insulation tape, it's plastic and won't fall apart in the rain. Three different sizes of petals. To curve the petals use finger and thumb to pull and bend them.
First you bend the wire in the centre, then thread the button on it. Next stab two holes in the centre of the petals and thread them on starting with the smallest. Pull the wire tight and twist the two ends together on the back. For the stalks you need old knitting needles, the thinner the better. Mine are metal but plastic would do the job as well.
Push the pointy end of the needle through the wire loop and pull it down not quite all the way. Then wrap the ends of the wire around the needle in opposite directions. It doesn't matter that an inch or two will show at the front. Secure the needle to the back of the flower with two pieces of tape. And there you have it, so simple.
I don't have many different colours, look out for discarded cans.
Add them to any kind of pot plants. You could put one in each of your pots, or put several in together.
You can stick them into a thick conifer hedge.
Or you can stick them on top of a hedge.
Very colourful, I'm going to make some more. Home made is much better than shop bought. Make your garden unique and individual. Are you going to try it?
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
Hello. I've copied and pasted a comment from the previous post, thank you for your questions. Wow! I love your woodland pictures. I used to do old style embroidery years ago, tablecloths, tray cloth etc, but there's no need for those today. Would love to know how you're creating the woodland scenes. Are they for framed pics or being used for something else. How did you learn this? Would love to have a go and would appreciate your help. Thank you. Love your blog. The woodland picture is a little bit different to what I normally make. I decided to use up some scraps, and chose fabric which had a browny-green colour. It is one picture, not several. I first chose the frame, and I'm making the picture to fit it. Thicker fabric works best for this, it doesn't matter that it frays, it will add to the texture.
I am using an old cushion cover for the backing, it's a loose weave hessian type fabric. I cut the pieces into oblongs and squares, and assembled them on the fabric like a jigsaw, mixing them up. I did try using iron on webbing to stick them down but it didn't work very well, so I loosely stitched them into place.
I decided on a tree and cut long pieces of dark brown fabric which looks like bark, and arranged them into a trunk and branches, using the machine to sew them on. Next cut some fluff from a piece of green fur fabric, and stitched this over the branches with a running stitch.
Now I am adding lots of stitching to build up layers, to cover the joins, and to add texture and mix up the colours.
The stitches are mainly simple running stitches, added randomly all over it. Most of it is single strand embroidery thread, with some wool, and thicker thread. I am trying to picture in my mind what the floor of a wood might look like.
When starting to put together a design you could look for a picture in a magazine, and make a simple outline drawing on a piece of A4 paper, then find the fabric which might suit the picture you have in mind. If the picture is structured, cut templates for the pieces first, from paper, and use these to cut out the fabric.
I have always known how to do a few basic embroidery stitches learnt at school, after that it was a case of reading books and practicing. You can go back to your old style stitches and apply them to any piece of work you like. Nobody taught me how to do textile art, I get an idea and experiment with materials.
Here is a video on basic stitches to get you started.
Ideas for patchwork stitching.
There are lots of tutorials on yooootooob for every kind of textile art. I would advise anyone who is wanting to have a go to watch as much as you can. I can't tell you here what to do, I can only encourage you to do some research, have a go, use your imagination, and practice practice, practice.
Hello. I buy a four pack of cider from Aldi for about £2, probably every four to six weeks. The pear cider is very nice. I drink very little alcohol and regard it as a treat. The cider can sit in my cupboard for ages, I only drink it when I fancy it, not because it's there. So, this post is about how you can save money on your alcohol.
This secret I will share with you in the form of a short video, so take a look if you are spending too much on your booze. You will also find there are health benefits if you adopt my method.
My dinner yesterday was a bit of this and a bit of that. A mixed bag. I don't care if these foods are not normally served on the same plate, my meals are whatever I have in, mix and match. I bought a lettuce on a yellow sticker for 14p. The last of the cottage cheese which was ten days out of date. The last of the pasta salad also ten days out of date. A few mushrooms from a normal price punnet. One spud in the microwave, from a big bag. Two Lincolnshire style veggie sausages. Plus a dollop of mayo. It was bloomin lovely.
Thank you very much for your comments on Sam's post yesterday. I haven't had an email from him yet, so maybe he doesn't get online every day.
Crafty Club this morning was good, another new lady started. It's cold out but I have done my three mile walk. I managed to get one in last night after it finally stopped raining.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
Hello. That's another one finished, I think. I say I think because I'm not so sure that the frame is right, but it will stay like this for the time being. I found a frame yesterday at a charity shop for £1, which was the exact size I needed. It's a metallic gold and there isn't a mark on it.
The paint is household emulsion from the sample pots, the black outlining done with a fine liner felt tip pen. I found a small Body Shop lip brush in my ancient makeup box, it was perfect for this job. Doubt I shall ever be using lippy again.
And this is the piece of fabric before I started. It's quite thick, like a heavy curtain fabric. Some of the colours only needed one coat, some two coats.
I did think that a black frame would look good to give the colours extra vibrancy, so I stuck some tape around the edge. Not so sure now. I am now thinking paint the gold frame silver, that might give it a more modern style.
The picture size is 10 inches by 12 inches. I love it. Think I'm going to keep it.
The bad weather is here, snow this morning though it was gone within an hour of falling. It's still windy and cold. I might do the yellow sticker dash tonight, if I can be bothered. Need to fill the car with petrol as well.
Thanks for popping in, the weekend is here, enjoy, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
Hello. I'm playing again. Colourful mesh fruit bags, there must be something I can do with them. A friend has been collecting these, she gives me anything that might be useful for artworks.
At the moment I'm just jiggling them around on a piece of foam board which I will use for the base. They are mostly red, I will look for different colours.
I quite like this, lay them out as a backwash.
There will be a lot of stitching as the foam is strong enough to support lots of holes where the needle goes through, without falling apart.
Emails in this morning from Lithuania and Australia. Might be able to fix up a TV appearance down under, and a newspaper/magazine article in Lithuania.
I'm off for a walk right now to ponder further. I have a magazine to deliver to my friend Joanna down the hill, she is in Woman's Weekly.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
Hello. My lovely charity shop bootees are looking a bit tired, and need tarting up a bit. I want to wear them tomorrow and they must look nice. Remove dirty white laces. I tried scrubbing around the white bits at the bottom with a toothbrush and toothpaste, then wash up liquid, didn't make any difference.
So, paint it's got to be. Vinyl silk emulsion from the tester pots.
Oh wow, I just couldn't stop myself. The grey fabric was a bit grubby, so let's give it the full works, blue, green and purple. I had a new pair of laces in my stash to complete the jazziest trainers ever. They would cost a lot of money in the shops. I bought them for £2 a few years ago, have had a lot of wear out of them, now they have a new lease of life, all for a couple of bob.
Love, love, love 'em. I hope they will make people smile. Not to be worn in the rain maybe, ha ha.
I'm going AWOL a bit later today, something important to do. Can you mind the shop for me, no skiving. I'll be back before you know it.
Thanks for popping in, we'll catch up soon. Toodle pip
