A note about my daughter- Folksy Friday No 29

My daughter is quite musical. She played the recorder at 4 years old - in self-defense from the shrill sound I found her a battered second - hand flute (she was 5 by this time) . We now live with a flute, alto saxophone, drum kit, acoustic guitar, dad's electric guitar (occasionally), folk whistle, harmonica, djembe drum .... She is now 13 and still cross that I wouldn't buy her the shiny blue violin that she really wanted when she was 5. We should, I suppose be grateful not to have to transport a cello or double bass, or even worse - a harp. I suspect more musical experiences will be added during her lifetime - I think we are about at our limit! We were really pleased when she attained a merit in her recent Grade 6 Flute exam.

This selection of items is a tribute to L-------. Unfortunately Folksy was 'flute-less'.

Click on any item to see it on its Folksy shelf.

Kakes Makes

Mamasakio

Ghettogran Stencil Art

kardznmore

MJ Woodcraft

Widget and Friends

Frosty Inspiration

I haven't decided how to use these yet - I've got a couple of patchwork bags to finish for a customer to look at. Maybe I'll have time to play around with them next week.

Ice!

Everything seems to be taking a little longer than usual due to the weather. We are fortunate not to have cancelled anything yet, but we are having to fit in lots of extra little jobs. I've set the kitchen timer to remind me to change the water for the birds. I forgot yesterday and a very sorrowful robin was trying to peck at the drips which were landing from our de-frosting van.

Whilst waiting for the cars to defrost on Monday OH took some of these photos. I thought there might be some urgency before thawing robbed us of the photos. Needn't have worried - it stayed like that all day and I was able to take some more:

It seems that every view from our house windows is crossed by incoming services. However, the views are pretty, if you ignore the power lines etc.

Just in case we should ever wish to sell our house - I should point out these photos were taken from first floor windows. We do actually have some lovely views and the power lines are not so prominent from ground level!

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I have just listed this Icy Lake Brooch (loosley based on a frozen Derwent Water a few years ago):

Sea Bindweed

Whilst walking, and taking some photos, along the North Wales coast last summer,  I came across some tendrils of bindweed making their way along the edge of the coastal path. At the time, I thought they had escaped from the captivity of nearby gardens. Having read a little today, I have discovered that they naturally inhabit the edges of sand dunes, along the margins where marram grass is beginning to root. The bindweed has a trailing habit and survives happily with few rooted points. I have learnt many such snippets of information since starting my collection of wildflower brooches. I hope you like this latest one:

Mountain Pansies

I have been wanting to embroider a design based on pansies for a while. Having done a little research I have discovered that the little wild mountain pansies are found in areas of upland grass,  in mountainous regions. They survive particularly well in areas where they are not cropped too heavily by sheep.

This is my representation of the mountain pansy:

Felting!

I have produced several small pieces of felt today. They will form the backgrounds for some of my embroidered brooches and other pieces of jewellery.  They are quite flimsy, which is fine since they are always 'stabilised' by stitching to a base fabric before embroidery. The idea is to provide a unique, handcrafted background.

I thought I would show you these two pieces. Both produced using wonderful fibres from My Heart Exposed Yarns. Both use similar basic colours. The first piece has a 'double skyline'. Small backgrounds can be cut taking advantage of both. If larger pieces take one skyline and all the 'foreground' I shall have 'spare sky' for applique designs - nothing is ever wasted - far too precious! This first piece was quite successful and will probably be used for landscape designs. I have unintentionally allowed the brown fibres in the top layer to 'clump' together a little too much in the felting process, but the backgrounds can be cut to take advantage of these.

This second piece almost sent me skipping round the kitchen with excitement (well fortunately no one else was in and yes I am a big kid - the whole point of hand crafting is to experience, and for me, to share, this sort of 'buzz'). I had wanted a depth of coloured layers, with some fibres peeping through the top layer. When used in very small pieces as backgrounds this gives the appearance of meadow, hay field etc for my embroideries. I have managed one or two pieces like this before. The camera hasn't quite picked it up but the point is that a very fine scattering of short, quite coarse fibres, is dispersed across the final layer of fibres. These short fibres are in a rich blend of Helen's beautiful colours and they have had more affinity for the background than for each other so that they have not 'clumped together' like the browns in the first piece, but have felted to the background layers beautifully.

The flash coupled with the fact that the felt was supported by a piece of perspex in the light tent has caused the colours to appear  quite washed out here. In reality, against a dark background, they are beautifully rich. I now need to try to identify the type of this fibre so that I can talk to Helen about some more!

Snowdrops.

Those of you who have read my first blog posts will know that snowdrops are very special to me (Snowdrop Lady - March 2010). Variations of my snowdrop embroideries are also very popular at the moment. This is my latest: