IS IT SPRING?

Hello everyone

What a beautiful day!  Everywhere is still very wet and soggy, but the sun has been shining all day and it is so nice.  Makes you feel much more motivated and happy when the sky is blue and not a sign of rain anywhere.  the Pie cats love weather like this and it also means we can get some gardening done too - pruning, clearing rain/wind damage and some general tidying up.

It has been a madly hectic week.  We have experienced a cooker delivery saga: it wasn't delivered on the day it was supposed to be, when it did arrive it didn't work, removed and no replacement available on that day, replacement arrived on Wednesday and woo hoo it works!  Lots of work this week on my new venture, Independent Markets, arranging bookings with the Godalming Borough Hall, sorting out forms and emailing details out to everyone who has either taken part in the past, wanted to but couldn't get in because dates were full and new enquiries.  The week finished on a good note, a friend who had bought one of my hand-decorated jute bags took it wither her to her exercise class.  It was seen by a shop owner and they would like to stock some.  How exciting is that - and of course more panic: have I got enough bags, felt, material, glue, what more do I need to order, make, etc.  Thank goodness the first event I am organising is not until April - although I am still hoping to be able to arrange something out for Valentine's day.

I have started a blog for the Independent Markets and you can read my first post here; for some odd reason I cannot get the comment section working/set-up, but perseverance is the name of the game.

Last week was not all mad and hectic, in between was a peaceful day's pottery.  This term's project is to make a plaque with our house name or number on it.  We already have one that is built into the brickwork, so another one isn't really needed.  However, I wanted to join in and decided to make with my five cats on:

I cut out five cat shapes, as you can see the shapes got slimmer as the number of cats increased.  I trimmed round all of them so that they would lie flat on the backing.  They have been lightly covered to dry slowly and  once 'leather-hard' I will biscuit fire them, then add a different glaze to each cat (need a steady hand so that I don't end up with smudgy bits on the one next door) and then fire them at 1250 degrees.  I am still enjoying my pottery sessions even though I know my creations will not be appearing in a hundred or so years on the Antiques Roadshow.  But you never know, tastes do change.

I think it is break time now - well time to nip over to Handmade Monday and catch up with everyone.  A weekly must and I really recommend you stop by and read the blogs of those crafters taking part.

Have a good week everyone 'see' you next Sunday.

Jill