My First Bag !!

Here is my bag that i have been

working on the past couple of evenings .

It is made from a grey felted material ,

and is 17" x 16 " .

It is a large shopper type bag , as i had no pattern

to use , and it is my first attempt at making

myself one !! There are also side panels sewn

into it - so i can get more goodies in of course !!

I wanted something unique for myself ,

to take away on my holiday next weekend .

I decided to use crochet doilies , ric rac and

vintage buttons . Along with felted leaves

which i made myself , from an old jumper .

I hand sewed pink blue and green

sequins on some of the doilies and ric

rac / lace . Mother of pearl and a gold

domed vintage buttons ..

I am quite proud of my first bag - and

cannot wait to use this - as long as it

does not rain while we`re away !

And here is a peak at a couple of

new items , which will be added to

my shop after the holiday ...

A fimo cupcake pendant ...

And a doughnut pendant ! Yum Yum !!

And finally ...

I would like to wish all my Canadian readers

A Happy Canadian Day Holiday !!

Have a wonderful long weekend !!

Sale In My Nest !!

I have decided to have a sale in

my shop

In preparation for new items after my summer break .

Items have 20% off excluding the postage , and multiple

shipping will be adjusted . Items with combined shipping ,

has 10% off and an offer of $12 for a custom made

banner is included as well .

This runs from today until 5th July

Any orders taken on the last day ,

will be shipped out after the 14th July .

If you are looking for something in

particular , get in touch !

I maybe be able to help you out !

Work In Progress ...

Just a little peak on my current project i

started last night .....

Embellishments for a bag i`m making

for myself ...

"Leaves " from a wool sweater i

felted myself ....

And later today .. My dear other half

is taking me out to a craft millshop , not

graced by my presence yet !

A kid in a candy store time for me !

I Still Miss You So ....

Time goes by so quickly ..

You have been on my mind recently ,

only to discover , it is just over 10 years -

since you had to leave me .....

I chose you as a birthday present -

You were the "runt " of the litter ...

But i knew - you and me , were meant to be

together... For 17 years ...

With many cuddles ....

Sat outside our front door .. waiting for

me to come home ... And you never sat

straight ! You would always lean on my leg ...

Giving you my old duvet cover to lie on ....

having your photo taken with me on

my wedding day .....

And spending your last year with me .....

Fondly remembered - sadly missed

My Sandy .....

xxxxxx

Delicate Beauty ...

3 carnation heads , i rescued from being binned

today at work ...

Now basking in the sunshine and myself

appreciating their beauty ...

Enjoy your weekend and the beauty that surrounds you ...

Teacup Garden ...

Another week , another challenge .....

On Etsy Cottage ....

Here is my garden piece ...

I had bought these printed net doilys from a local

charity shop . They are meant to be used for floristry work ,

but me being the forward thinker of - yes i can do

something with these - i had to buy them !

The inner part, goes inwards , to form a little well ,

and it is reinforced with plastic , and they were

made in France .

I created my own little garden inside one of these ,

and realised it would "sit " inside a teacup !

Hence the name .

Items used are :

Vintage crochet doily and leaf , button that looks

like an egg , fabric roses and sprigs , a tiny bird ,

wire butterflies , and a cone from a walk i picked up ...

Nothing is stuck down - as of yet ...

so i can rearrange it - if i wish to do so at a

later time !

Changing And Growing .....

It seems there is still out there in

blogland , many people who want to change

something in their creative lives , and do

not know what or how to go about it .

I too , am one of them ...

I struggle with all my ideas floating around ,

and most are written down , otherwise i

would forget them ! Needless to say .. Some will not get done -

I know myself ..

Whether you want to find a " niche " of something

that has not being done - and i have mulled this

over and over , and not come up with anything

"new " yet - It is hard ! ... Someone has thought of it

already , when you thought you had a great idea !!

Artists are their own worst critics , myself included .

From having an idea in your mind , to actually doing it,

it can turn out so different in how you imagined it . Then

creating an item , and it changing it`s form in the process .

Sometimes this just happens , and it is a good thing !

So .... what do you do next ???

Go with the flow ? Or carry on regardless ,

knowing inside yourself that you will be unhappy ?

Sherry mentioned this on her blog

that is why i have written this ...

It`s maybe a time to step back and think what I

really want to do , in my own style of creating ,

embrace the changes , and see what i come up with next .

I do not have the answer for anyone out there ..

It could be deep inside you .. waiting to come out..

It`s just finding the push and going for it !!

If you do not agree with it , bin it , and start again .

Do not be hard on yourself for not getting it right .

There is no right or wrong way in art , it is your

interpretation that counts and speaks to you .

Whether it speaks to anyone else - is an added bonus .

If you did not give it a try - where would we and

everyone else be in life ??

On a more lighter note ;o)

Here is a pot of some oregano seeds i planted

2 weeks ago ! I was thrilled to see , seedlings appear

over the past few days - something as tiny as a seed

growing and changing ....

And my first chilli plant , gifted from a neighbour ,

now 7 inches tall and the first signs of chillis appearing !!

The little bell shape just underneath the leaves !!

And lastly .....

Another altered library pocket ...

Swaps And Buys ...

I recently met Lynn of The Rose Cottage

On Etsy Cottage Style ning site . She is the founder of this site ,

and we have got to know each other , over the past few weeks .

We chatted about doing a small swap together , as i saw

she had found some gorgeous playing cards that i

was interested in , and here`s my

package of goodies that arrived from Canada !

The cards , vintage seam binding and buttons !

There are some glass ones included , faux antique keys ,

german scrap diecuts .

These will look great in collage work , as i am

always on the lookout for unusual playing cards ,

but never seem to come across any !

So thank you so much Lynn !

I love them all , and you were very generous

with my goodies ! ;o)

Another creative woman i`ve recently found

is Gail of Shabby Cottage Studio

Many of you may know her already , as an

established artist , creating blog head banners ,

digital collage sheets and so much more . She is a

warm , wonderfully creative woman , and has many

items in her shop that i`ve admired .

So , when i saw these sweet cute birds - i

HAD to buy some !!

They are tiny feathered birds on a stem -

which i had not seen in this small size , and

me loving all things feathered , have some of these

now - so i can get creating something with them !

Thankyou Gail so much !!

You have another happy customer here ,

I will definately be a return customer of yours !

Childhood Innocence ...

Another Fun Friday challenge was Children

I am very much enjoying creating for these , as

the group has a week normally to make something ,

which allows for other things in life that can happen .

Or , you can still post your work done , later , as it

were , there is no pressure to finish it in a week .

No time restrictions really - which i love !

I`d just received some Library Pockets ,

and decided to alter one of them .

I aged the sides , then applied vintage music

paper to a photo mount . Snippet of ledger paper ,

lace and a paper flower ..

Et Voila !

Somethings are simple to compile together ,

and this one was no exeption .

I have a few more to come , and will be

listed in my shop soon !

And finally to you all .....

Coastal Day Out ...

Our weather was sunny over last weekend ,

so we decided to get out there on sunday ,

and make the most of it .

As we all know , car fuel prices have gone through

the roof , but we decided to travel to the east coast

anyway .

We ended up at one of my favourite places ..

Scarborough . I have shown photos of the place

beforehand , but here are a different selection of

views to see .....

The harbour ... With Scarborough Castle ..

View from the pier towards the beach ...

with a pirate tourist boat trip just leaving ..

I wonder if Captain Jack was on !!! ;o)

Seagulls nesting on the cliff face ...

From the seaside front - there is a tram carriage

from the bottom , to take you to the top part of

the town. It is over a 100 years old , and wooden .

The view from getting out of the tram ...

where you can walk through some gardens - if

you`re feeling energetic !

And here`s a fish and chip shop , right

on the seaside front ....

I had to take a photograph - because of their name !! ;o)

And had to share it with you ....

I was roaring with laughter at it myself !!

You certainly will not forget the name !!

Challenging Watercolours ....

As part of the Fun Friday Challenge on

Etsy Cottage Style , select choices are made

each week , to create something .

Just to let you know - i am still creating things ;o)

And last week`s choice was windows .

I decided to challenge myself more , and use

watercolours - which i have no real experience with .

I made my window using a painted bamboo cane ,

beads - so it looked like a curtain pole . Sewed a pair of

country style curtains , surrounded with wallpaper .

I then painted my scene , as if i were looking out of the

window , onto rolling hills and countryside at dusk time .

And in the foreground is a glimpse of my walled garden

with various flower bushes .

At first , i found it relaxing , but as it progressed ,

it became a " pain " , and i wanted to scrap it !!

Probably because it was from my imagination ,

and i was not actually sat at that scene doing it .

But now - i am glad i persevered with it ,

and i am happy with my finished piece ! !

Busy Mr Bee ...

Bee captured on our rhododendron bush

Childhood Games ...

At the weekend , i spent some time in

our garden - tidying up and cutting the grass .

I came across a small batch of buttercups ,

that my other half was going to " weed out " ,

so i took a photograph .

Then i remembered the games i played ,

hop scotch , kiss chase ;o) and skipping ,

and daisy chains !

So i thought it would be cool to make my own

buttercup chain - as we had no daisies .

And i remembered what we did with the buttercup -

you put it underneath your chin , and if it

glowed yellow - you loved butter ! ;o)

So here i am with mine ...

The story of this photo is ..

M : Don`t put it so close to your chins !!

ME : Huh !!

So i have done this photo small , and

although you love them most of the time -

Don`t you feel like giving them a slap now and then !! ?

I would love to hear anymore childhood games

that you did like me .

And the Winners Are .....

I know i`m a little later than usual

posting my time today ;o)

But - here are the results from my

Take Your Pick 250th post !!

Special guest - Animal -

for the drum roll please !!! LOL

My mum would have called me .....

JOHNATHON !!

And the first 2 comments that guessed it

right were ...

Sherry !

One of thee luckiest people i know !! ;o)

And a new person i have met

Lilith Silvermane !

Who has 6 children , and is single at the

moment !! I take my hat of to you ! If you

could get in touch with me - then i can post

your winnings of to you !

CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS !!!

There were others that guessed it right too ,

so sorry - you nearly won ! But thank you to all

who did enter my giveaway , circumstances prevent

me from giving more away at this time .

And no doubt - i`ll be having another one soon and

please pop by again and have another chance to win !