Yesterday was a lovely sunny day, and my birthday, so what could we do?  For several months I'd been looking forward to a visit to the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey as there's always plenty to see and encourage inspiration.  We looked at the current special feature,  The Blue Exhibition (http://www.crafts.org.uk/ see below) then enjoyed coffee and cake in their upstairs cafe, followed by a wander around the village.


Blue  a flow gallery touring exhibition
Saturday 10 March - Sunday 22 April 
The colour blue has had great importance throughout craft history being particularly significant to textiles and ceramics. Blueexplores the different ways current artists use the colour in their practice. The traditional uses of blue and white are the inspiration for some works, others refer to its roots and heritage in Europe as well as the Far East.  

The exhibitors were Felicity Aylieff, Paul Scott, Amanda Caines, Henk Wolvers, Caroline Slotte, Mia E Göransson, Louise Renae Anderson, Amy Jayne Hughes, Åsa Pärson, Fuku Fukumoto, Rebecca Wilson, Kaori Tatebayashi, Carol Cassidy, Kap-Sun Hwang, Fiona Rutherford, Elaine Wilson, Livia Marin.

PInterest

I have joined pinterest: http://pinterest.com/shushab/, so far I've started six boards and posted 40 pins (pictures). - this may become addictive!

Why pinterest is 2012's hottest website: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/06/tech/web/pinterest-website-cashmore/index.html

Willow Bending

Yesterday a crowd of us went to Mary Newman's Cottage in Saltash ( http://www.museumsincornwall.org.uk/museums/mary-newmans-cottage).   This is where Sir Walter Raleigh's wife lived - where he was I don't know, perhaps off exploring or spending time at the Court of Queen Elizabeth and putting his cloak down on the damp ground to avoid the Sovereign's dainty feet from getting wet.  
The house gives an excellent insight into the way the majority of Elizabethans lived, well the comparatively prosperous ones, I should imagine.  This cottage is looked after by the Tamar Protection Society (http://www.tamarprotectionsociety.org.uk/) and  is a beautiful, compact house with an entrancing cottage garden out at the back, complete with Grade II listed privvy.
Why were we there? Well, firstly to look around the property and secondly to try our hands at learning to make willow Christmas decorations.   
Apparently willow has been used for hundreds of years to make decorations and useful pieces, presumably because of its ready availability and cheapness.  We had great fun out in the back garden encouraging the willow to bend (and trying not to be too hasty and break it!).  After about an hour or work, here is my finished result.  It isn't a great photo as it's difficult to see the willow itself but I did make another one which has yet to be decorated:

Suffolk Puffs

A few years ago, at Westcountry Embroiderers (one of the highlights of the week!) we made Suffolk Puffs (see: http://www.stitcharena.com/try/patch-and-quilt/suffolk-puff-christmas-tree/instructions.html)
to attach to little purses we were making.  



I loved doing these so made two, and then sold them on Folksy (the British version of Etsy: http://www.folksy.com/)

With a few which were left over, today I made some Christmas Cards:

Thursday 22/11/11

Today spent the morning with some friends, chatting and looking at craft ideas, which was quite stimulating.
Then in the afternoon went to TLC (Tea Learning and Cake for Carers) at Torquay Community College (aren't school swish compared to when we were pupils!) where we did some card making for Christmas.  

Bird Garden - Angie Hughes

I've now come home with lots of ideas, including one site mentioned by the tutor.  The site belongs to Angie Hughes http://angiehughes.com/ a textiles tutor.  This looks like a brilliant site - art journalling, textiles, books and lots of other avenues, with great links to suppliers - and Angie also takes classes and offers classes online.

http://ukhandmade.co.uk/local/scene-christmas-craftfest-virtual-extravaganza

I found the above link from: http://www.ukcraftblog.com/2010/01/really-helpful-blogs.html

Looks interesting: http://madebypin.wordpress.com/

The New Chic

Did you know that John Lewis, the Department Store (http://www.johnlewis.com/), offers a Home Consultation Service? It's probably rather pricey but well worth it for someone, like me (only with more money), who has absolutely no idea where to start when planning rooms.

The Consultant will know exactly what's in their store, saving wandering around endless looking at stuff and becoming confused with the variety on offer.

According to John Lewis (as reported in the Saturday Telegraph today) what's in and what's out at the moment is as follows:

In: bold colours, boutique-hotel chic, carpets on floor, voiles, teal, kitchen as the hub of the home, personality.

(And what's Out: Beige, teracotta, peach, minimalism, stripped-wood boards, formal living rooms, net curtains.)

Although beige, at least this room has a certain amount of colour but  I think it's still rather boring and impersonal.  There are no indicators of what sort of people live here, what their hobbies and interests are. It could be a room designed by a committee!


To quote: 'People are emotional about their homes understandably, and they don't like change' - well that sounds like a generalisation. I love changing houses - and changing things in the house - and am sure lots of other people do too.

MiniEco - things to do

Leafing through a magazine at ACE today I saw a site which looked rather interesting: "a tutorial craft-laden blog at http://www.minieco.co.uk/ over 500 items in fashion, design and toys".  
It has lots of fun ideas of things to do with kids (or 'children' to you and me) which don't involve cheap bits of plastic and lots of batteries (the bane of many parents' lives).  Here's an example:

Simple - but very effective.

Kate, a mum of two, who runs this blog, invites people to subscribe to mini-eco, and also has lots of interesting links, such as: 
1             http://whipup.net/ 

2       Toys from trash:  http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/toys.html                        ("The best thing a child can do with a toy is break it"); and 

3       http://kickcanandconkers.blogspot.com/ - which offers kids, modern vintage living and sunshine galore.  

Who can resist the promise of Sunshine Galore - now that Autumn's here!

Storage

Ribbon Holder

What a fab way to store ribbons!? see: http://pinterest.com/pin/244915899/

Another ribbon holder idea:

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. 

Collect the things you love. (http://pinterest.com/)


Also see my site on pinterest.com/shushab.....


And here are a few more from the same site - I love it!!

http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/2011/06/craft-room-organization.html - and lots of other ideas:

Creative Writing for Carers

Last week I attended the first of a series of five Creative Writing for Carers workshops at the local College, with the aim of to making this (and other) blogs more interesting.

We learnt about 'clusters': a sort of spider of connections.  To inspire us, our tutor Ann laid some pictures on a table for us to chose one on and to write one word to describe it, in the middle of a piece of paper.


I chose a newly-made rustic loaf of bread, with knife and butter alongside and wrote 'bread' in the middle of the paper.  


The idea is to draw branches out from that word with associations relating to that word.  In my case I wrote 'tasty', 'aromatic', 'well-bred', 'Italian' (I thought it was foccaccia bread), 'tea time' and others.


Then we were asked to look at the array of words around the edge and write words associated with this new group of words.  For instance, from 'tea time' I could have written 'tea pot', 'Earl Grey', 'everything stops for tea', 'bread and butter' and 'builders' tea'.  This could lead to other words, perhaps not even relating to the original subject - the more obscure the better perhaps!


Ann then suggested that we pause, take a look at just part of our 'clusters' and perhaps a story of some sort could come from one or two  of the ideas.  


We were then asked to write a couple of paragraphs, based on part of our 'clusters' and, if we wished, read them back to the group.  My story related to the 'well bred' part of the cluster which, as you can see, was nothing to do with the original 'bread' word!


Our homework is to look the first lines of books we had read.  I have chosen the following.


"Mary Gwendoline Hettie May Gill stopped my hand in mid-air as I reached for the red and gold teapot, and took it herself from the woodburning range" (Sea Stories of Cornwall by Ken Duxfield) 
This tells us so much about the setting that we can begin to imagine the rest of the scene and are keen to get on to the rest of the story.


Another one is "Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree" (The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett).


And also "The decision to bomb the office of the radical Jew lawyer was reached with relative ease" (The Chamber by John Grisham).


Someone once said that everyone has a book in them.  In that case Ten Tips you need to know for Self-publishing may be extremely useful: http://www.mywritingblog.com/

Cumfy Rugs

I have made several of these Cumfy Rugs.  

They're great fun to make and they're very versatile.  I use up bits of yarn left over from other projects, also ones which are bargains in the shops and in charity shops.  
The first things to do is to knit great long lengths (about 4' or longer) of about 40 stitches on large knitting needles, using thick wool.  Knit enough to make it as long as you'd like (6' x 4' is a good size - or larger).  Then crochet them together - it's faster than making squares. 


Then I do a few rows of crochet around the edge to look pretty.
Finally finally back the rug with a piece (or patchwork of pieces) of cotton fabric, turning under the fabric edges and leaving the crochet edges with no backing (so they're thinner).  
These rugs (or throws) look good draped over the sofa and are great for cuddling up in front of the TV.  Some people use them as an extra rug on the bed on cold winter's nights.


For another Cumfy Rug I crocheted squares, joined them together and put a fleece backing which makes it really warm, although it is much thicker.


Here are some pics of the latest effort:

These colours were chosen to go with our old sofas but luckily they still look alright with our 'new' ones.


Needless to say, the cats love the warm softness of these rugs.


This is a few pictures of the blue Cumfy Rug:

 Back, showing the blue/blue patterned lining.

 Back, showing crochet edging and how lining sits just inside

If anyone wants to make one of these, there's no reason why, if they can't yet crochet, then can sew the pieces together and do some fancy knitting around the edge.

We are making embellished bags at a Westcountry Embroidery Dayschool here in Paignton tomorrow.  I've been looking around for ideas and think that being beside the seaside that this could be a good influence.  The colours seen often here are terracotta, turquoise, blue, darkish green and beige.  As it happens (so they say) these colours go very well together, so it's a good starting point.

I've also looked on this website: http://www.interiors-tides.co.uk/.  
They have lots of great ideas: 

beach huts, driftwood, fishing boats, 

sea, lighthouses, sea birds, yachts, sky, fishing ports,

rope, nets, sand, rocks, fish, shells, 

flags, seaweed. 

And there's also red Devon soil here in Torbay.

(looking north from Babbacombe)

The first item I need is some plain cotton fabric - no can do - everything here is either patterned or not cotton.  So will make do, take a few bits along and see which is most suitable.  I have a lovely small bag of beads in interesting blue and turquoise which will have to be incorporated somewhere.

6pm, well I've just got home and had a look at the effort so far today - and it has absolutely nothing to do with the sea.  It's more like cogs in a wheel, and the fabric doesn't even suit the project.  So, into the (fabric) bin and I'm going to start again!

Ways to Change Your Life

1. Get a promotion
2. Listen to your partner
3. Write your first novel
4. Wear sun screen all year round
5. Edit your wardrobe
6. Eat properly
7. Buy a dermaroller
8. Find out how happy couples stay happy
9. Have a baby before you're 33
10. Review your investments
11. Be a good parent
12. Get the right healthcare
13. Get a new best friend
14. Slow down
15. Don't join a gym
16. Have an open mind about sex
17. Think yourself happy
18. Find a man with a low disgust factor
19. Release your inner Judy Garland
20. Take time to stare at the night sky
21. Get some sun
22. Start saving for next Christmas
23. Improve your networking skills
24. If you're not enjoying your job, quit
25. Do some voluntary work
26. Learn something every day
27. Be a good friend
28. Eat less
29. Enjoy being near water
30. Go to bed early
31. Regularly enjoy the outdoors
32. And .... eat less chocolate?

Soap Dish

We needed a new soap dish for our cloakroom basin. 

I found this old tatty one which once had been rather beautiful, so decided to have a go at painting it - after all there was nothing to lose.

I gave it a good clean to remove old soap and mank

 Then gave it two coats of red acrylic paint all over:

Then a coat of gold acrylic paint on the top, followed immediately by a spray or two of crackle glaze:

Then gave it two coats of varnish (at the same time revarnished the handles and knobs on our saucepans).
Now it's esconced in the cloakroom, matching the roses and the gilt mirror:

Rules for a Creative Culture

Taken from 5 Rules for a Creative Culture

From: http://www.swiss-miss.com/

• Avoid rules. 
• Avoid order. 
• Don’t just embrace chaos, but create a little bit of it. Constant change, from the top-down, keeps people nimble and flexible (and shows that you want constant change).
• Give yourself permission to be creative. 
• Permission to try something new 
• permission to fail 
• permission to embarrass yourself 
• permission to have crazy ideas.

Well, I do avoid order - but not on purpose - am always changing (esp my mind!), find it difficult to give myself permission to be creative and to fail.  Embarrassing myself is fairly easy, especially at 60.

Roll on the crazy ideas .....

How do you score on these?


Quote: Never change your originality for the sake of others, because no-one can play your role better than you. So be yourself because, whatever you are, YOU are the best.