Pom-Pom Blooms

I begin this post with an explanation.  I feel like writing about how my life has shifted somewhat since hearing about the tragic news of Vanessa's passing.  As if I have been hit with a brick, I am suddenley accutely aware that time is passing, that life is fragile.  And I have been seizing the day so to speak, I have been choosing to do things that I have put off, I have been immersing myself in small creative moments that are bringing huge amounts of pleasure.

Last night, I took down the big polystyrene wreath that was half adorned with colourful pom-poms  (carefully taking out all the pins) and put them on the floor.  What a beautiful sight! So jolly and bright, and such a shame for them to sit on top of the cupboard, attached to that sad, half finished wreath that wouldn't see the light of day again until at least November.  We started this project before Christmas, my daughter and I, but sadly time got the better of us, and I think we also ran out of steam a little on the pom-pom making front so it was never completed

Last week whilst out shopping, I had randomly picked up a copy of Landscape Magazine, because there was an article about Cornwall in it, and a photograph of The Driftwood Spars in St Agnes, with a view of the sea beyond which caught my eye, and made me catch my breath, and so I went and bought it.  I say 'randomly' because I have perhaps only ever bought this particular magazine once before; I tend to buy interiors magazines if I'm splurging.  Anyway, once home I poured myself a hot cuppa and settled down to have a read - and what a lovely magazine it is too!  It was here that I stumbled across a tutorial for making pom-pom blooms, and of course this idea percolated for a day or so until I found myself with a spare half hour in which to have a go at making some.

They are ridiculously easy and quick to make - I simply wound a length of wool around the centre of all my pom-poms and tied them to some old twigs I had stashed away (I think they last made an appearance as an Easter decoration in a jug).  And now, I have three glorious glass bottles, ablaze with delightful balls of woolly colour!

Here are a couple on the table, cheering me up whilst I work!

It's a rather miserable day here, with feisty winds and turbulent grey skies, so these bright blooms are just the ticket to lift the spirits!

I am also making great headway with a crochet WIP which I've had on the go for almost two years now.  I'm finally on the edging, which is an exciting moment in itself as it signifies the end is near.  This blanket is going to be for my daughter.

After this, I hope to finish my shawl and two other blankets that I've got on the go.  It is my intention to infuse life with a little creative time, to help me unwind and relax at the end of every day.  I realise many of you do this as a matter of course, but I am afraid to say I have neglected my hooks for a long while now, and it's time to make amends.

I am also getting back into the swing of painting after a long, and busy Christmas holiday.  I have a couple of commissions on the horizon, as well as some work to do for some greetings card companies, so I'm keeping very busy.

I also have a new Offers section in my gallery shop, which is where I am now selling some of my original artwork at more affordable prices.  I have decided I need to make some space in my tiny house for new work which has to be done and dearly hope these lovely paintings will eventually find lovely new homes to go to!  You are welcome to take a look at the paintings available here.

Believe it or not, I'm currently painting robins! It's a fickle thing this illustrator's calendar, as we work against the seasons, painting Christmassy things in winter and spring, and easter chicks in autumn!  Once these are done, I am hoping to start work on some new small paintings, which I will keep you posted about here.

Have a lovely week all of you, thank you for coming to see me today xxx

Some Happy Times

Half term has been and gone, and I took the opportunity to lay down the paint brushes and have some heavenly time out.  Above is a mosaic, capturing some snapshots of that delicious week.  First off, a trip the seaside with my sister and her family; we went to the Norfolk coast and took a long walk on the sea front breathing in the deep gulps of tangy salted air.  The sea was like a mill pond, as calm as you like and dark silhouettes were framed on the shore line as folks walked their dogs, stark against the milky blue sea.

In the park, the aconites were a bright carpet of yellow and a cheery sight for a winter weary soul...there was also time indoors, leisurely breakfasts, time spent baking with my little girl and the acquisition of some new, shiny tins to put our freshly iced fairy buns in.  There were lots of sofa moments too where we just collapsed in front of the telly, where I crocheted or sipped hot, frothy coffee in my pyjamas.

I think we all need time out like this, time away from the computer, from work, from our commitments.  It's a chance to recharge, reflect and relax.  It was bliss.

Back to work though this week - paintings for the exhibition continue to emerge and I'm on with this one at the moment:

And I'm also on with some of these...

These Easter hearts have been a nice little diversion for me, and I continue to sneak the odd one in here and there between my more Serious Paintings.  I am currently offering these through my Facebook Page, so if you are interested in acquiring one for yourself, you are welcome to message me although I must hasten to add that they are very Limited Edition due to time constraints and so only a very small number will be made.

I have some extra time on my hands today, my little girl is at an after school craft club so I'm away now to take advantage of this extra hour, and get busy with my paint brushes again.

See you soon x

Snow, yarn and other such ramblings

There's been a spot of colourful hooky going on in these parts.

After a bit of pootling on Pinterest and various and delightful craft blogs, I discovered a newish craze for granny square blankets emerging.  Aha! I thought; I could do with one of those very things for my own sweet bed!  However, Christmas was upon us, and I had neither the time nor inclination to contemplate a new blanket project, so I filed the idea away for future reference...fast forward to January, and I eventually caved in and bought a new stash of Stylecraft Special DK wool to set about making a granny square blanket of my very own.  My heart had been well and truly taken the moment I cast my eyes upon this beautiful blanket here although there are many fine specimens to be found upon the interweb as I'm sure you will discover.

I cannot lie to you, I was so smitten with Sandra's colourway that I ordered pretty much the same shades of wool that she had used for her blanket.  And it's coming on a treat; its a fine way to pass a happy hour on a winters eve, curled up on the sofa watching Miranda, gigglesnorting like billy-o and knocking up a few squares in deliciously vintage coloured yarn.

I'm using the join-as-you-go method, fiddly as heck, but saving me a lot of sewing at the end which can be a tad time consuming to say the least.

During the day, I've been working my little socks off on some new pieces of art for my solo exhibition...would you like a peek?  You would?  Here you are then:

The Coastguard Cottages

Beside the Waves

I also have a plan to create some coastal inspired characters on some small box canvases, with an element of collage and stamped text about them.  I'm mighty excited by this sudden flurry of inspiration and I'm making sure I write down lots of notes about these ideas in my book, should they happen to dissolve and disappear from my busy little head forever.

After a colourful week, our world suddenly turned very grey and white.  The snow finally came to our little corner of the world and we decided that we would go out and enjoy ourselves enormously.

There was sledging and snowman making, the obligatory snowball fights and wanderings down the back garden to see the river which had turned into a magical winter wonderland...

I love the sculptural shapes of the branches and seed heads, and that glorious blue sky!

As I work, I see my little feathered friends making more frequent visits to the feeder (which is hung a couple of feet away from my window).  I love to watch them, and wonder how something so small can survive such terribly cold nights...

Another feathered soul paid us a visit too...can you spot him?  He's a regular visitor, and can often be seen stooping in the shallows, waiting to catch a plump trout for his lunch.

Back inside after our snowy meanderings, hot chocolate of the best kind, topped with the squirtiest of cream and tiniest of marshmallows is consumed and jammies are put on.  It's only 3 o'clock in the afternoon, but it's a snow day from school and there's no need to be going out again; may as well just cosy up indoors and do a spot of painting with C...

...and on a whim, I dug out some papier mache style hearts and painted a whimsical little Valentine's scene.  These hearts are secretly magnets, but would look rather dandy in a nice box frame I think.

So my week is only just begun, but already it is filled with the simplest and nicest of things.  And if it needed icing on the cake, it came in the form of an email from my lovely agent, who wrote to tell me that three pieces of my artwork have been accepted for licensing by a client, and therefore shall become cards or suchlike.  I am delirious with delight, because this is another one of my dreams come true.

And dreams do come true you know, if you believe they will.

I'll see you again soon, have a wonderful week and thank you for coming to see me today.

Love J x

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I've been busy of an evening this last week...

...hugely inspired by Attic 24's latest creation, I felt a sudden need for a crocheted Christmas wreath of my own.  So the yarn basket was ransacked for suitable colours and once I had a decent pile (variations of DK yarn; acrylic, merino and cashmerino) I got busy making a long stripy rectangle to cover my polystyrene wreath (it's a flat backed one which I picked up quite cheaply in Hobbycraft).

I wasn't quite sure how the crocheted rectangle would fit around the wreath, but as Lucy reassured us on her blog; despite it looking like it won't,  it somehow just does - and it did.

My wreath was going to need some adornments too...and there was a sudden flurry of pom-pom making the other night, and cutting out of holly from felt.  A little jaunt to Homebase resulted in a top find of some Jingle Bells - only £2.99 for a tube of 10, and a chance find of some mini decorative baubles on wires in Paperchase were just too good to ignore.

Once home, I raided the button tin and ribbon stash, and got busy.

I sewed the Jingle Bells on, but the rest of the ribbons, pom-poms and holly leaves are pinned on.  It's very easy to attach them to the polystyrene using pins, and you can move things about a bit too, if you change your mind.

I think the mini decorative baubles and bells are lovely, they really catch the light.

We decided that it would be nice to have our new wreath hanging on the door which leads into our lounge, where everyone would see it best:

 I'm so pleased with how this turned out, and I'm already planning another one for Springtime, full of juicy colours, flowers and lots more pom-poms!

As we huddle indoors of an evening now, and cosy up on the sofa under our crochted blankets, watching telly and reading books by the glow of candles and Christmas lights, we are grateful to be tucked up warm with one another as the weather has turned decidedly cold.

Yesterday morning there was a thick frost which glittered beautifully in the rising sun.  The trees down the valley were gauzy white; the sky was a soft shell pink and the air was very still.  As I made my way down to the little wall to peek at the river, a flock of wintering goosanders that had been swimming downstream suddenly took off into the air, their beating wings a percussion of noise which broke the freezing silence.

So it's no surprise that we like cosying up in our little home together...

We love hunkering down of a Sunday afternoon to watch Elf and other favourite Christmas films, and we've also been enjoying a bit of Festive Makery together too...

This last Sunday saw an industrious bout of paper chain making (these are from Phoenix Cards), which we strung up alongside some of those funky and fabulous retro tissue paper balls.  I've seen these featured in a couple of magazines and on the internet but found them way too expensive to justify shelling out on.  Then we discovered some in Wilkinsons for just a pound a piece (the larger ones are still good value at £1.75 for a whopping 30cm sized ball) and we brought home some cheery red and white ones to go with our paper chains.

We think it looks very cool.

So, the house is finally decorated; the order book is closed and I'm winding up the last few hand painted goodies to go out to their new homes.  It's been a whirlwind these last few weeks and I am now looking forward enormously to relaxing and enjoying the holidays.

I like this time of year, as we head towards the end of December.  It's a very good time for Creative Percolation, and as I step back from my painting for a while to spend time with family and friends, I usually find new ideas blooming.  These are written down in my planner, for things to come back to in January.  But for now, the games will be brought downstairs and we'll play Monopoly and Guess Who; we'll eat too many mince pies and drink a tad too much mulled wine.  We'll see the little ones sing in the choir at church on Christmas Eve and go to the panto on New Years Eve.  We'll look forward to driving out to Castleton in Derbyshire to see the little trees lit up, a tradition almost as old as I am (my parents would take me and my sister, and now as we take our own daughter).  I like the gentle traditions of this time of year, and also the new ones that my own family are creating alongside them.

Sending love and peace to you and yours, wherever you are in the world.


Julia x

Vintage Flower Doily Garland

Once upon a time, I discovered a crochet artist called Sophie Digard.  I fell into immediate rapturous love with her intricate lace like scarves; an alchemy of design and colour that had the inspiration levels soaring into overdrive!  I had never worked with cotton before, but decided it was something that I'd like to try crocheting with very much indeed.  My dear old Nan used to crochet doilies when she was alive, and these too held the same fragile allure for me.  Such care had been taken with the beautiful patterns, the elegant stitches creating a floral masterpiece that would have taken quite some time to create.

The thing was, a doily seemed doable, but a scarf or a shawl made with such fine threads seemed a little daunting.  Did I have the patience to work diligently at something that would surely be a labour of love, an endurance, a project that would take a Very Long Time?

In short, no.

I'm one of these people who sometimes like a quick result, a fast and happy little project that can be quickly made and installed; a project that I can work at alongside my Bigger Blanket projects.  And whilst I love the vintage feel of a crocheted doily, I wanted something a little more colourful and festive; something that would feel inspiring and exciting to look at.  So I decided to make a garland; a flowery, autumnal garland that I could hang in my home.  A garland inspired by my Nan's pretty doilies and the delicate threads of Sophie's beautiful creations, indeed it would be a miniature floral doily garland!

Oh the excitement at realising a new project is about to be undertaken!

So a couple of weeks ago, I purchased a handful of skeins of cotton thread.  I spent a happy half hour winding them onto old style wooden laundry pegs (my preferred method of storing all embroidery cottons).  I chose DMC perle cotton skeins #8, but you can also buy this in balls.



And then I dug out my Crochet Motifs book and looked for some pretty doily style flowers to make.

As most of the patterns are from the book, Im sorry to say that I cannot reproduce them here - but if you have the book yourself I can point you in the general direction of the flowers I chose (numbers 41 and 53).

I also designed a little flower myself - for which the pattern is here:



The stitches are written in US terms.

• Ch4, SS to join to form ring.


• Ch3, 14DC into ring, SS to join (15 stitches).


• *Ch5, SS into 3rd stitch along* Repeat ** around circle, until you have 5 half circle loops made from the chain stitches.  SS to finish round in first stitch.


• *6DC into each half circle loop*  Repeat ** into each loop to make petals, SS to finish and tie off.  Secure ends by sewing into the back of the flower.

You can use this pattern with any yarn of course, but for those of you who'd like to try out the cotton perle flowers that I made here, I used a 2.5 hook.

But now...it's time for a little Ta~Dah moment!



I've hung my little flowery doily garland over some photos and decopatched letters.

What do you think??  I'm rather smitten by it, and am now contemplating making one for my kitchen!  The flowers, although a little fiddly to start with do crochet up quite quickly once you get the hang of working with the cotton (I'm used to working with DK yarn, so it was quite a difference to me and took a little getting used to).  However, I think it's worth persevering with as the outcome is so delicate and pretty.

To  join your flowers to form a garland, choose a cotton/yarn colour and start by attaching with a SS to the top of a flower; then chain across (I chained 25 here) and SS to join your next flower.  Just carry on in this way until all flowers are attached and finish off with a SS in the top of the last flower, secure and tie in ends.

I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial; I'm going to love you and leave you now as I feel a big mug of tea coming on!! Thanks for coming by today!

Much love

Sea Blue Hooky

Hello,

I was all cosy on the sofa the other evening, wrapped up in my ripple blanket with a nice cuppa and a copy of Country Living magazine.  I noticed that twilight was infusing the blue sky with it's velvety darkness and I suddenly had an urge to start a new crochet project...darker nights make me want to dig out my hook and a stash of soft wool and get busy.  The next day, I took myself off to the local wool shop and browsed the shelves looking for the right shades for my new scarf.

Yes, another scarf.

I cannot help myself when it comes to making scarves - it's because it's such a portable project, and pretty quickly made up I think, so I enjoy making them.  Plus, it's always nice to have a cosy and colourful collection to dip into come the colder weather.

But this time, I wasn't after bold, bright splashes of colour.  This time, I was trying something very different ~ I was on the lookout for sea blues and greys, the colours that I associate with the coast in winter...I envisaged a smooth, round, charcoal coloured pebble encircled with an elipse of white sitting in my palm...I saw pale blue skies, with gulls wheeling high above on the thermals...I saw stormy grey blue seas, wind whipped into frothy white waves that crashed onto pale sandy shores...I felt the cool, bleak wonder of a beach walk in January, discovering bleached driftwood and tiny white shells sprinkled on the tide line amidst muddy brown fronds of seaweed.

I wanted to find these kinds of colours for my scarf.  And I discovered Rowan Baby Merino Silk DK and I was smitten.



The shades of this yarn are beautiful, and capture everything I was thinking of.  I also had a pattern in mind for this scarf, which is called the Starburst stitch.  You can probably get a free tutorial online for this stitch, but Im using the one that's in Handbook of Crochet Stitches.

I like how the Starburst stitch looks a little bit like waves on the ocean...



I must admit, despite being landlocked and yearning for brisk Autumn walks on a beach, I do like this time of year in these parts.  The countryside is slowly fading, the carnival of Summer packs up it's glamours and slowly moves on, replaced by that chill in the air, an undefinable feeling, a wistful sense of something passing...of log fires and hot chocolate, of walking in crunchy leaves down lanes where the air is tinged with the scent of a bonfire.  All of these things have me yearning to be in the kitchen making delicious things...



...like aromatic parsnip and apple soup...*recipe can be found in October Edition of Country Living Magazine*

There is something very comforting about home made soup, fresh off the hob and dished up with a warm baguette, generously buttered and served with a big mug of tea.  It is comforting, and reassuring and homely.

I do enjoy these small comforts, they help me to make the transition from Summer to the colder months ahead.  I know I'm one of those souls who, despite liking each season enormously, deeply laments the passing of the warmer days.

I'm currently tucked up indoors working on a commission painting; I'm also starting new sketches for the solo exhibition I am in next year, at Studio 61 Gallery, in Derbyshire.  This is my first ever solo exhibition and I'm thrilled to have been invited to show with the gallery.

Also, for the first time in many moons, I have agreed to do a Christmas fair - it's hosted by the very talented Kate Brazier of Kate Creates, and I'll be down in Newton Regis on the 8th December to sell some Christmas and Coastal wares!

I can feel a cup of tea coming on now, I'll see you next time - thanks for bobbing by.

Colour Love

Hello

At last, at last the rainbow circle cushion is FINISHED!  To tell you the truth, I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but I've had a very poorly little girl to look after and didn't get a chance to photograph it until now.

What do you think?

It's the zingy-est, brightest, most eye popping cushion in the house!  I found the pattern to be really fast to work up and easy to follow (you can find it in that ever fabulous book ~ Cute & Easy Crochet by Nicki Trench) and the wool was generally delightful to work with (despite the fact it split a little here and there).  The wool was Amy Butler Organic Cotton DK and I'd absolutely use it again simply because the colours available are so gloriously happy ones!



So with a crochet project complete and a little girl at home ill,  I decided to have a look through my stash of WIP's to give me something to do whilst she slept and lay on the sofa recovering (I hasten to add, she is much better now - thank goodness!).  I discovered my Granny Stripe blanket hidden away under a chair (things get sequestered all over the place in this house) and I suddenly had an urge to be doing rhythmical stripes again. Stripes, be they granny, straight or ripple have a very soothing effect on me; I find it most therapeutic to curl up on the sofa with a bag of rainbow coloured yarn and lose myself if the repetitive motion of going backwards and forwards.

Anyway, it's coming along pretty nicely!  I've decided to be very random with this blanket which is destined for my daughter and am choosing colours as I go.  I wonder what you think of it so far?





I wasn't too sure about the darker shades at first, but I think they're growing on me.  If you like this pattern and would like to give it a go, you can find it over on Attic 24's blog here.

What projects are you currently on with?  Share them with me here!

Sending love



 

Colour~Full Easter

We're enjoying a bit of a relaxed Easter holiday here in our little corner of the world.  Last week we went down by our little river and collected some twigs to make our Easter Tree.  On one of my jaunts to town, I'd spied a cheap bag of coloured eggs to hang on our branches and brought them home with a box of tiny yellow chicks.  The eggs are those lovely sugary colours that make you feel instantly happy when you see them, and the chicks keep falling off their perches to hang upside down in a rather amusing way.  I've never decorated before at Easter, but it's definitely something we'll do again.


The arrival of Easter also saw the arrival of my sister and nephews who came to stay for a few days with my parents.  And it also saw the arrival of some rather unexpected White Stuff.  Brrrrrrr....

Yep, we had a fair old dumping of it and the temperatures plummeted.  Hard to imagine just a few days earlier we'd been sunning ourselves on the beach, and eating our tea out the back garden; slapping on the suncream and digging out our summer tops!!

Only in England...!

Still, a few inches of snow wasn't going to scupper our plans!!  We wrapped up warm and ventured out.  We'd heard there were some new babies to be seen at one of the local farms, so we trussed up the Smalls and took them up to Our Cow Molly's to see the lambs and partake of some of their delicious ice-cream.

Rushing around doing lots of family things during the days, it was nice to find a few moments of quiet time come the evenings.  I managed to sneak in some bed-time hooky...

The bag I'm working on is coming on a treat; only nine more squares to go and a couple of handles.  I'm trying to decide what kind of fabric to line it with too.  It's going to be a smashing bag for summer though.  You can find the pattern in this book here by Nicky Trench.

I've also been enjoying a spot of relaxing with my birthday present ~ I was very lucky to receive a Kindle.  When they first came out I wasn't too sure about these reading devices, being the Major Book Lover that I am.  What could possibly take the place of a real book, that feel of paper, the very scent of a book?  But you know, I soon began to realise that for someone who lives in a very Small House, and has an increasingly large book stash (much of it being housed in storage boxes as I just don't have enough shelves, I'm sure you get the picture) they could be very useful indeed.

I'm mainly using mine for fiction books, as I don't think I'd get as much pleasure from cookery and interiors style books on them, being greyscale as they are.  For reading books though, Kindles are the best invention in the WORLD and for travelling what could be better than a whole stash of your favourite books in one place?! Fantabulous!!! I'm a total Kindle Junkie now!

 
Once I had my little Kindle, I realised it would need a little Home,  somewhere to protect it from the inevitable bumps and knocks it would collect being jostled about in my shoulder bag and so on.

I knew I didn't want a run of the mill shop bought one, no no - I wanted something special, something a bit different.  Something Hand Made!

So I approached Cathy who runs a beautiful business called Dear Emma, and asked her if I could commission her to make one for me.

And she did!  It's so well made and I'm as pleased as punch with it.  The stitch work is exquisite and the fabric is very luxurious.  Cathy has a lovely website, and I believe that my Kindle cosy may be the first of many as it's inspired her to start a brand new range!

So that's about it for now.  In a day or so we head off to see the other half of our family down in Wales.  I hope you're enjoying your holidays, thanks so much for bobbing by to see me today!

Julia xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx