Creative Christmas

I wish I had more time to do things this christmas. I had a few wishes- I wanted to sew... a wanted to make some sketch books and draw a little...

I have a feeling it is always the same every year- there is that feeling of not quite completed. This year I had an excuse but it still doesn't make me feel any better!!

Those Antlers my brother found and gave me made a great table decoration... spruced up with some tinsel and baubles.... I bet those antlers never saw that coming!!

My sister was kind enough to send me hundreds of little finger puppets for my little monster. He loves them... she also gave me the idea to use them as a mobile. I hung them on an octopus thing from Ikea (what on earth is it for? Anyone??) and used scraps of material to hang them. He just loves it and every time I hang it up on the door frame and we walk through it he bounces about and giggles. Later when he is older I can cut off the strings and he has the puppets again... and I have some odd Ikea octopus.

Poor little christmas Grinch!! I sewed a whole oufit. Not only the hat. Looks great!! I even made a little fluffly white trim on the collar. I just don't have any complete photos... rats. The outfit it actually quite snuggly warm so it wasn't just a grinch for christmas!! 

Printers Tray

 I bought this printers tray at a flea market and I love it. My sister had one when I was a child. I constantly misheard the 'Printers' part and heard only 'Princess'. Inside she would put all her little figures that she had been given over the years.. it looked great. As I grew older and started printmaking did I realise the huge error of misunderstanding as I was introduced into the dark arts of printing!! No princess there, but there was something fitting by calling it a 'princess' tray in any case. 

So, when I saw one for sale I just jumped on it.

I ripped off the back as it was beyond help, saftely and repair. I don't put princess things in it... I never got around to putting a back on it but it is handy for storing all those little annyoing things that clutter up tables that you don't want to loose but wish to look at. 

But I have noticed that when the door in the bathroom is closed a little tooooo firmly (like the wind catching it) things have a habit to leap out of the tray.... Can't win it all!

Went to a flea market and came out with a printers draw... I think they are so fantastic. I have some fun ideas about what to do with it but first I had to rip the back off it.

 Some smart arse had decided to take off the original back and put thick paper in there.... it was obviously stored somewhere damp and the paper had buckeld. I first tried to cut the pieces out before I realised how stupid it was so ripping off the back was really the only option!!

 The wood on the back was a bit flaky and nasty with rusty nails.... so it was just as well!!

 Without a back it looks really great and now I am deciding if I really want to put a back on and... actually maybe I could do something interesting with it. Options are now open!

I wanted to go to another flea market but we miss judged the times and missed it. Instead we went and had a nice beer in a small bar on the water. There were some gutsy ducks and some really sweet baby ducklings.

I had some luck today- the sun was shining and it made my wind chime look quite lovely... I pulled out a brush and dusted it down.





This piece of quartz came from a Glacier in Norway.



This is a wind chime I made a few years ago.... I used all sea materials apart from some pices of 'china' I bought in a ceramic fair. The black grey pieces sound wonderful with the shells... I also pushed beach stones and ceramics into a piece of beach wood




I wanted a strong piece of drift wood but it was quite weak. Too much salt water and sun! If I remember correctly I found the wood in Lapland, the shells are from scotland, the stones from a place in Italy. The grey coloured pieces of ceramic were a special Japanese form of baking ceramic- they heat it to a really hot temperature so that it almost burns the clay. I loved the imprinted images- It made me think about all the lovely peices of pottery I found on the beaches in scotland as a child.