TizDuster

Time travel and Kevin Keegan

Recently I helped out at a friend's auction in Leicester and I lost my head to a heart throb of earlier times!

I wish!

Gloomy start to the year - sky scarf update

Yes, it's grey, dreary and raining again today. So what better time to post up my progress with my sky scarf. I'll add links to the other knitters as soon as they post updates.

The overall picture of the year is one of dullness. In fact it's been so gloomy that I may need to order some more grey wool if things don't improve soon!

I was cheered about a week ago when I added some bright blue but as you can see that weather didn't last long. Never mind, Spring is around the corner I am sure.

One bright thing on the horizon is that I'm finally going to get my new henhouse this week and hope to stock it at the weekend. Expect a lot of hen pictures soon.

Poppy headpin challenge - task completion

You may remember recently I entered the poppy headpin challenge started by Jo Tinley over on Daisychain Designs.

Well - I agonised over what to make with the two copper poppy headpins Jo sent me. They were so lovely I wanted to do them justice and that thought seemed to stifle the creative process.

Finally, today, the day of the deadline, I galvanlised myself into action and got going. I decided to make a simple pair of delicate earrings. And here they are .....

I made some simple copper headpins and some silver links, threaded some carnelion and turquoise chips onto my copper headpins, made some silver earwires and the earrings were done. They need a bit more polishing but I wanted to get them on display as soon as possible.

Now I can go and see what everyone else in the challenge has made. If you want to pay them a visit I've listed their blogs below.

Jo Tinley                           Daisychain Designs

Marissa                              Sea Flowers Studios

Molly Alexander            Beautifully Broken Me

Kristi                                  Curiosities by K

Jennifer Cameron         Glass Addictions

 

 

Silver hare

Remember the copper hares I made last year? Well I finally plucked up enough courage to make a slightly smaller one out of silver - and there is the result. It measures about 6cm from tip of back leg to tip of front leg. I've put him on a silver chain with moonstones and aquamarines.

I hope you like him. I've done another which is now in the tumble polisher. I think I'll use garnets and moonstones this time.

Perhaps this will get me going in silver again as I seem to have lost my muse.

A treat for myself

I spend a lot of time drooling over the wonderful things fellow bloggers make and every now and again there is something I just can not resist.

When I saw these polymer clay and silver crow earrings over on Joan Taylor's blog I just knew I had to have them.

They arrived this morning and I have to say the picture  does not do them justice. There is soemthing really magical about them - something almost other-worldly.

That's a rather romantic thought for me. It may be something to do with the book I'm reading at the moment. It's called Pegasus by Robin McKinley. A beautiful book about a time when pegasi and humans lived side by side. It you appreciate gentle writing, I heartily recommend Pegasus. I am transported into their world and really don't want the book to end, especially as I believe it ends on a cliff-hanger and I will have to wait till 2014 for the next installment.

Robin McKinley is a talented and intelligent writer and is in the enviable position of being married to Peter Dickenson another wonderful writer.

Bird houses

Continuing my ongoing avarian theme I've started making bird houses. My idea is to make quite a few to display at our next Aldborough Creative. I'm hoping people will like to buy them for their gardens.

Here's the first one. I quickly needle-felted a bird to look out of it in case nobody knew what it was meant to be. Excuse the bad picture But I couldn't wait till daylight to take it outside. I'll get some more natural pictures later in the week of the three I've managed to do so far.

I think they will be quite cosy for birds and very servicable. The one I put out a few months ago is still warm and dry although no-one has taken it over yet.

And luckily the cat is not putting off the visitors to my bird table. There is now regularly a male and female robin, a male and female blackbird, a male a female blue tit, a male and female chaffinch, a male and female collared dove, and some assorted sparrows. There's also a big fat pigeon that keeps cramming himself onto the bird table and nearly knocking it over in the process.

I think I'll have to build an extension if this amount of activity continues!

 

Ready and waiting

I wondered why there were no birds at the bird table this morning.

I looked closely beneath the bushes and there was Tag, the cat, waiting patiently!

Hurumph .......he may be fourteen years old but he's not one to give up bad habits easily.

An airing cupboard full of hats

What more can I say?

I've been busy this week trying to build up a stock of hats again.

I was going to keep the green one for myself too wear at the footie. But somehow I think it will have  to be saved to swell the display for the next Aldborough Creative in May.

Versatile Blogger

I don't always respond to blog awards because they usually require you to jump through countless hoops and I'm not good at being told what to do. Mainly because of my upbringing by a bullying mother - but more of that another time.

Anyway a few days ago Angela over on A Life of Felt awarded me a Versatile Blogger Award and I was frankly thrilled to think that my blog has come to her attention. Mind you I have been cyber-stalking her for about a year now and threatening to get up north for one of her workshops. But so far I haven't made it.

Angela's felt work is fantastic and daring - she uses a lot of British wools, which are not the easiest to work with as I am finding out. When I am feeling a loss of direction I look to her blog for inspiration.

Back to the award - I have to write a few random things about myself, so here goes. I'll let my hair go grey when I am 70, I have a bad habit of drinking too much at the weekends and my guilty pleasure is Peter Andre.

Is that enough? 

Oh and I have to pass the award on - I think I'll send it to Jo over at DaisyChain Designs because she is very generous with her tutorials and advice, because she makes lovely jewellery and finishes her work so well and because she has had a tough time recently.

 

Another hat finds a new home

I managed to make another hat recently and it didn't hang about long. This weekend it went off to a new home. My friend who bought it for a friend's birthday said she'd keep it for herself if it didn't fit!

I was half hoping I'd get to keep this one for myself. I think I'll make another tomorrow afternoon.