July 3 rd 2016

July 4 th 2016

I always struggle with indoor crafts when the summer comes. The garden beckons and having been retired now for a year I have been able to give it the time it deserves this year.

This photo was taken on 31 st May this year

The alliums were great, especially the three globemasters (middle of bed).  The larger head size is not so obvious. They have been great value, I plan to get some more for next year for both sides of the path, they are now forming seed heads but are still lovely. 

The bed otherwise is waiting patiently for the perennials to spring into life.

And now!

It's great to see it at this time of year, The wall was built last year, finished in late July and then planted up so all these plants are in their first year, almost certainly too many.

 The illusion door is brilliant, it fools most people and gives a real focus to this side of the garden, the path nicely breaking up the two beds.

Trip round the rest of the garden

The pond has goldfish and a heron stop wire fence which has mostly worked except for one event earlier in the year when a new heron on the block halved the stock!

The beautiful Japanese grass Hakenechloa macra at the back of the pond has a lovely compact habit and is very well behaved.

The pot in the foreground with the multicoloured leaves is Hottuyunia cordata 'chameleon'  it is very invasive if in open ground and it likes a moist, well drained soil.  I ve tried it in the pond but that was too wet. So I have lined this pot and the one on the other side with a thick black bin bag, slashed the bottom and filled with compost, manure and John Innes no 3. This makes a 'bog pot' and they love it, they've flourished and are hopefully contained.

The 'aviary' in the background is a cat house for our indoor cats.  Our Ragdoll (such a fantastic breed)   Minx now goes into the back garden which has been made much safer with the wall which relpaced a very decrepit fence.   Here she is :-

Ragdoll cats are bred to be indoor cats which is why we bought 2 6 years ago.  We lost her sister earlier in the year from kidney diseases and we have missed her and feel Minx could do with some feline company.

She will soon be joined by 2 Ragdoll kittens 

Ruff (aged 5 weeks) and 

Tumble......so cute, hope she thinks so too.

Back to the garden!

The side of the house has a separate garden linked by a curved cobbled path. Here we have a free standing pond with mosaic seats, made to make them more durable.

There is also a 'French corner' 

The succulent pot is new this year

These are doing well but will need winter protection from frost and wet weather.

I plan to dismantle and cover with Victorian cloches or borrow my neighbours green house.

I have enjoyed being in my garden this year and seeing it mature, there are still large areas which are quite new and I am planning a fairy garden for next year.......

Clarity challenge 19 th May 2016

Here is my May entry for the Clarity challenge.  We ve been on holiday for all of May so far so not been able to give this as much time as I would have liked.

I have chosen to enter this card which was inspired by one I saw done by the lovely Emma Burns.

I am still very inexperienced with the finer points of parchment e.g. White work but this was a better attempt than my two previous ones!  I wanted to frame her and I liked the lily border plate.

Hope you like it too.

May calendar challenge

May 2nd

Here is my May entry for this challenge.  The great thing about the calendar is that you know what's coming up each month and having been really late with last months I made both together! So this month I am mega early as a result.

I enjoyed making this and adding the cockerels with the double sided sticky square made it very easy.

I now have the beginnings of a gallery in my down stairs loo! The canvas board lends itself to this. 

Also I have discovered this amazing hanging system courtesy of my daughter and her boyfriend.  It's perfect as it doesn't show and is removable! Here is the link..... Sorry can t work out how to enable you to click on it direct! 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Command-Picture-Hanging-Strips-Value/dp/B000OF6X48

And hanging with the commander hanging strips ( see below)

Genius!

April 28 th calendar challenge

Completed canvas rather at the 12 th hour this month! 

I followed the instructions on the calendar.  When I went to get my texture paste I discovered it had hardened. So I made my own, 

Here is the recipe :-

It works really well as you can just make as little as you need at any one time.

1 tbs white paint (I used gesso)

1 tbs white PVA glue

2 oz talc mix together and add very small amounts of water to achieve the right texture.

It smells great too!

April clarity challenge ' Masking' April 17 th 2016

I made this card for my daughter, I like the combination of the landscape and the poppies and I used Faber Castell crayons to colour it from the back and blended them with torchons and blending solution.

March calendar challenge

19 th March

This took a while to get the ink; spritzing and plastics working well together, could have done better but decided to quit while the going was good after a few attempts.  I embossed the quote so it stood out against the background and then as I don t have the small lamp post ( can t believe I don't! I only have the large one which would have overpowered the poor church).  I went with the geese and added some colour to the hills and the sky.  I hope I have done justice to Barbara's original. 

It was fun to do and a technique I haven't really done before.  

Clarity March challenge 'all about the girls'. March 12 th 2016

This months challenge is ' all about the girls'. 

I wanted to continue my journey with parchment, but as usual forgot to take photos, it has been on a journey with me to London and back which is possibly why I forgot.

It was quite a challenge to get all the elements straight and to figure out how to get the lady reflected in the mirror the right way round!  I did her from the front and all the other elements from the back. 

(several times) 

My step daughter will be 50 at the end of this month and this is for her.  

My daughters and I were discussing why we like our different and varied crafts, and agreed it is all about the process. One daughter writes, another does stand up comedy! And the third is a dress maker/designer.

When my husband looked at this card which he loved, he said ' wow there's some work in this'! That I am sure you all agree is the point.  If you don t love the process then you won't want to do it.

Anyway here is my entry for the third Clarity challenge.