DIDN'T WE HAVE A LOVELY TIME, THE DAY WE WENT TO CHELSEA

Hello everyone

I certainly did have a very lovely time at Chelsea on Wednesday.  The weather was very kind to us, but boy did I suffer the day afterwards!  Sore feet, aching back and arms as long as broom handles from carrying lots of goodies away with us.

The wonderful thing about Chelsea is that you get to see some weird and fabulous designs - some you think 'I wonder what was in their mind when they produced this design' as well as 'I wonder why the judges gave this a gold award' and sometimes 'I wonder why the judges didn't give this one an award'.  Who knows what goes on in their mind, but it is the usual and the unusual that makes Chelsea fantastic every year.

My plant purchases included some more lovely Heucheras, Fuchsias and some Clematis, which will be collected by my Chelsea-loving friend when she is on holiday in Norfolk next month.  Among my selection is this stunning very, very dark red/purple one (the picture does not do it justice because the real colour is much darker):

I also bought two other dark red ones and two creamy white ones (one produces double and single blooms).

I love sculpture in the garden (not that I have much) and these took my fancy - a little too big for my garden but, hey, perhaps I can reproduce them in pottery:

I love lilies, but we had to give up on them a few years ago when we discovered that they are highly toxic to cats.  If you are owned by a cat, you will know they love to put their paws and noses on things they shouldn't, so they had to go - the lilies that is, not our cats.  However, the perfume from these flowers is amazing and makes me want to find a way of growing them without hurting my cats.  I would grow them in the greenhouse but in the summer that is left open, so perhaps they are something to be admired at shows and garden centres.

There were plenty of places to stop for a cup of tea, but these next photographs are for a very special tea party:

Tea for two?  Or two hundred? 

Milk in first?  

My kind of cupcake

A Jammy Dodger the size of a table?  Plenty to share

After tea, how about some interesting vegetables - a basket of dark, nearly black, peas.  They looked lovely:

In the not so dim and distant past, I did an intensive garden design course.  I have always enjoyed gardening and did the RHS Certificate and Diploma courses at Merrist Wood.  Not much success with the exams, I didn't take them all and trying to fit the course and the exams in and around a full-time job proved tricky but I learnt so much about horticulture.  It seemed a natural progression to do a garden design course, and it was brilliant.  The highlight was a trip to the garden of John Brookes, and we were lucky enough to meet him.  He wasn't at Chelsea but my other favourite designer, Dan Pearson, was and it was great to see him back at Chelsea.  Having now seen my two garden design idols 'in the the flesh' is rather special.

I have been watching the Chelsea programmes on the television trying to see if my friend and I were in any of the shots - how vain is that!  We arrived just after 10.00 am and were 'thrown out' when they closed at 8.00 pm and we felt we had not seen everything that was in the show - never mind there's always next year.

Have a great gardening weekend everyone.

Jill

SUN, SAND AND SHOWERS

Hi everyone

As the post title says, it has been a week of sun, sand and showers for us.  At the beginning of the week we spent a few days with Richard's sister in Norwich.  A very interesting city with lots of great buildings to explore and we were disappointed we only had a few days there.  Here are some photographs I took while we were in and around Norwich:

A view of Norwich Cathedral through an archway

Norwich was playing 'host' to more to 50 life-sized gorillas that created a conservation art trail throughout the city centre.  We saw some beautifully decorated ones, and the above photograph is of one of those we 'met' in our travels.

I also took a photograph of the Edith Cavell monument in Norwich, but am embarrassed to admit that I chopped her head off!  

We spent one day in the lovely Wells-at-the-sea.  We walked the full length of the beach and arrived rather tired at Holkham Hall.  It was lovely walking through the sea and of course walking on sand is pretty good exercise.  The beach at Wells-at-the-sea is BIG, clean and not very busy on the day we were there.

There hasn't been a lot of crafting carried out this week, but I feel a lot has been packed into our 'holiday'.  We rounded it off with a family get-together yesterday; cousins (Maralyn and Evelyn) and sister (Anne), plus husbands joined us and as always we had a great time, lots of laughs and sadly as always, the time went far too fast.  Looking forward to the next one.

Today a friend and I went to the Plant Fair At Wisley and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  I bought lots of my favourite plant: Heucheras (I will include some photographs next week), as well as some Sempervivums to put in pots around our pond.  Despite the rain, it was very popular and we only got caught out once - we decided to shelter in the Dahlia marquee and as you can imagine, there were some absolutely gorgeous blooms on show.  Here are some of them:

The variety of colours was superb and some of the blooms were the size of dinner plates.  All so lovely.

Back to serious work this week.  A bag decorating session tomorrow afternoon with my cake-making friend and back after a long gap at the Jacob's Well country Market on Friday.  And, two kittens arriving here on Thursday - definitely for fostering, not for adopting.  I think the Five Pie's would kick up a storm if we adopted any more.

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog this week and in particular to those who gave me ideas for getting rid of the wrinkles and creases on the jute bags I am decorating.  Steaming has helped and I think while they are a little damp weighting them down has also helped solve the problem.  I took delivery of some more this week and they were crease and crinkle-free, so I am hoping the first ones were the only wrinkly ones.

It's time now to visit Handmade Monday and catch up with my fellow crafting bloggers - a great opportunity to find out what they have all been doing over the last week.

Have a great week everyone - I will be back next Sunday and Milly will be here on Wednesday.

Jill

WEDNESDAY ALREADY?

Hi everyone

Is it me or is it getting a little warmer and a little less soggy every day?  Could it be that the long-awaited summer is on the way?  In between crafting (which is perhaps the only reason why I don't mind the rain in the summer) and rain, we keep nipping out to get some more gardening done.  I find that as soon as I turn my back on a particular patch, up pops a Mare's Tail or a nettle shoot.  Yes, I know nettles are great for all sorts of things, but there are certain parts of my garden that I don't want them to take up residence in.  They seem to sprout around our pond and digging them up is hard work as the roots tend to travel - although they don't pierce the liner, they do occasionally dislodge the edging.  We are expecting a delivery any time soon of Heucheras that I ordered from Plantagogo; their bed is already for them (weeds permitting) and I am looking forward to getting them settled in before Autumn.  The colours are gorgeous and I will post a pic on my blog as soon as they feel happy to pose for me.
   
I received an email from Blink Collective yesterday regarding their Experiences venture, which sounds really exciting: Blink allows skilled and passionate people to list 'Experiences' for others to buy.  Experiences are things people can: Make, Learn, Do or See.  We're a bit like Etsy, but rather than selling goods we allow people to sell their skill and knowledge.  We're UK focused and with over 600 listings we already have some traction.  As with any email that arrives out of the blue, I was a little concerned.  I checked on the Crafts Forum  I belong to and discovered that several members had also been contacted, carried out research and had signed up with Blink Collective.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I have signed up too and as I have been thinking of and planning card-making classes for some time, this looks a great way to promote them.


I want to highlight three of my favourite blogs (and bloggers) today:


Lesley who is the Mad Dog Woman of Shackleford 
Dawn of the Dawn Hart Blogspot
Badger Boo and his daft adventures

I love all of their blogs, but my main reason for mentioning them today is to thank them for always replying to comments left on their blogs - not just mine, but everyone's.  Commenting on blogs isn't always carried out and I know it can be time-consuming but taking the time to reply to comments left is great and means your comment has been read and appreciated.  Thank you both - oops sorry, Badger Boo - thank you too.


Still not raining, so perhaps a little more weed-pulling fun is on the cards.  Don't forget to come back on Friday for my guest blogger's post.  I will be back with my normal Sunday/Handmade Monday post

Jill

UP WITH THE BIRDS (OR RATHER THE CATS)

Hi everyone

I am an early riser.  As much as I try to turn over and grab another 40 winks, I rarely do because of two reasons: cats! Sitting on, purring loudly in my ear, walking across my pillow, sitting on my head!  Not completely their fault this morning though as just after 5.00 am the sun was shining and it was lovely to watch it move up the garden (better than watching a rain cloud move up the garden!).  In the summer (well someone told me this was summer and hard though it may be I am trying to believe them) I don't mind getting up early because it really is the best part of the day.

Did you read my guest blog post this week?  Sources of Inspiration by Linda Kirkbridge is a great post and I really recommend you read it as I am sure it will give you ideas and make you remember things you have used to inspire your work and may have forgotten.  Thank you Linda, and thank you to those who have commented - always very much appreciated.

I am always on the look out for great bloggers to join in the Friday Guest Blog spot, so if you feel a blog post coming on, do get in touch: christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  If you are wondering about starting your own blog, how about giving it a whirl as a guest blogger first of all?

In my Wednesday post I mentioned about a sneaky envelope remover striking my card wall at Bourne Mill.  Surprise, surprise could it be the same person who removed one of my pottery makes?  My second pottery makes consisted of four serviette rings and a matching small vase.  Before half-term they were ready for biscuit firing and last week I went to collect them to find one serviette ring had gone missing.  Everyone helped in the hunt-a-serviette-ring task, but we couldn't find it.  Perhaps someone has picked it up by mistake, or perhaps it was so good a famous potter has decided to clone it!  Whatever the reason, I am not happy about it - a missing envelope I can deal with, but a piece of pottery?  However, the good news from my pottery class is that I was able to bring my first piece home following is high firing activity (here is a pic) and I have enrolled for both the morning and afternoon session in September:

I know we shouldn't blow our own trumpets and I am not really going to, but I am pleased(ish) with my first effort.  It looks like a first time pot, but hey, that's what it is and it works for me.  I meant to take a photograph last night with a candle in it, but (as always) forgot and took one against a dark background this morning and it just isn't the same.  I haven't been anywhere near clay for a very, very long time, so feel that this is so far, so good.  This time next year I could be making the tea set to go with the thrones my brother-in-law made for the Queen - so watch this space.

It is Open Studios time and I visited my pottery tutor's studio.  Her name is Jean Tolkovsky and you can see some of her work here.  As it says in the Open Studios brochure: many new pieces in ceramics and mixed media.  Quirky jugs, birds, figures and outdoor objects, in a lovely garden setting.  The photographs on the link do not do Jean's work justice - they are much better in 'real life'.  The Open Studios are 'open' until 24 June and then again on 20 - 22 July and if you live in or around Surrey or are visiting this area, I do recommend you visit as many of the artists as possible.  As a bonus, if you visit more than 4 studios, you will be entered into a prize draw to win £100 to spend at one of the studios.

I am a big fan of garden decoration - some plants are very sculptural but some areas need just that little extra something.  I couldn't resist buying the mother Guinea Fowl and chick from Jean and here they are residing next to my pond:

Some of the artists are running workshops and I have enrolled on the Discover Wirework course that is running on Saturday, 23 June.  This is a 2-hour session which will cover making the 'bits' needed to join the jools and beads together!  No, it doesn't say that in the book, but it sounds good.  About 2 years ago, I decided I would make jewellery - bought loads of beads, fixings, etc, etc and made one necklace and a bracelet and then..................nothing more.  I thought it would be a nice idea to re-introduce myself to this craft and it may be that next Handmade Monday, I will have a piece of jewellery to show.

The weather has been lovely today and I have spent a lot of time in the garden.  As we all know, weeds love rain and coupled with reasonable soil temperature they have been growing at a very speedy rate.  We have a major problem with Mare's Tail and if you are familiar with them you will know that eradicating them is hard work - if you pull one up, in a few days time you will have a crop of them.   We have some growing around the pond (not by choice of course) and because of this we cannot use weed-killer on them, so it is a constant pulling and digging up battle to keep them under control.  However, the nice things that come out of rain and warmth are the gorgeous roses that are currently bursting out into flower.  We have a beautiful rambler called Seagull - masses of flowers and the perfume is absolutely gorgeous.  Like all ramblers, it is very hardy and very easy to propagate - in fact many friends and neighbours have the off-spring of this plant growing in their gardens.  Wouldn't it be lovely to click on this pick of Seagull and be able to smell the perfume?

Another pic taken today is of one of my favourites, Heucheras; this one is a deep, dark red colour.  I just nipped out to check the name and discovered that the label has disappeared - seems to be my week for losing things!  I used to pride myself on remembering the names and variety of plants I had in my garden, but these days I keep the label and place it very close to the plant.  Perhaps I need to re-think this.

I spent Friday with my sister doing one of our favourite activities: shopping.  I am a shoe and bag nutter and as we went to an outlet centre, I managed to snap up some great bargains.  I also bought some large fabric flowers which are really meant to be worn in one's hair or as a brooch.  I am going to use them in my crafting for adding to my willow wreaths - still working on the first one, so don't forget to come back next week and check.

Last but certainly not least, I want to tell you about Blogpinner.  Blogpinner is the brain-child of Mammasaurus and you may remember that earlier this year I guest-posted on her blog.  Click on the previous link to read about Blogpinner, but just to whet your appetite Annie (Mammasaurus) says: wouldn't it be cool if there was a sort of Pinterest but just for sharing and organising blog posts.   I think it is a great idea and signed up first thing this morning (you can see the button to the right of this post and it would be lovely if you followed me on there as well as here).  I am in the process of adding my blog posts to my board, and at the same time I am adding the guest posts that my lovely Friday Bloggers have produced.  so, come along and be a blogpinner - there are some great bloggers on there already, including the lovely Badger Boo.

No new makes for Handmade Monday as still have lots of 'work in progress' but I did post some pics of the mini-cards I have made on my mid-week blog.  Don't forget to whizz over and look at the other Handmade Monday bloggers work - and read their posts.  I love 'em coz it is a great way of catching up with everyone and finding out what they have been up to this week.

Enjoy the rest of the week, I will be back on Wednesday with my mid-week ramblings, and don't forget to read last week's Guest Post and make a big note in your diary to come back on Friday and read this week's one - you will love it.

Jill

IT AINT HALF HOT MUM

Hi everyone

Are we ever satisfied?  Too wet, too cold, too windy, too hot?  Fantastic weather and just great for lazing around in, but if you have to work it's not that much fun really, is it?  I am lucky as (lack of wind permitting) I can work outside, which I do very often.  However, at times the 'I have forgotten, this, this or this' becomes slightly annoying and the decision is 'go back inside and work' or 'stay outside and work on the garden'.  Very hard to talk myself into doing the right thing, because between gardening and crafting, what is the right thing?

I hope you read my Chelsea Flower Show post?  How about a caption for the last picture?  It was a fantastic day and I came home with great ideas of what I wanted to change and add into my garden.  I am a big fan of Heucheras and I was pleased to see my favourite supplier (Plantagogo) was there again and had won another, well deserved, gold medal.  I recently cleared a bed in the garden specifically for a 'Heuchera patch' and I placed an order when I got home for some gorgeous red-leaved and bronze-leaved plants.  I think I took about 50 photographs (crazy camera-wielding lady!) at Chelsea, but I promise I didn't add them all to my post, but here a few I missed out.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of this beautiful rose but I do remember that the perfume was so lovely

Isn't this amazing?  Two driftwood stags locked in combat.  

Digitalis Illumination Pink was named Flower of the Year

This looked so lovely and cool on a very hot afternoon - a beautiful display and not a slug nibble to be seen

All over for another year and I can imagine that the exhibitors have had about five-minutes peace and quiet before they begin planning for next year's show.  

I hope you read my guest blog post on Friday from Lesley Beeton?  Lesley recently went back to South Africa for a holiday and her post gives a very interesting insight into the country, but of particular enjoyment are her photographs.  The Aloe is very impressive - particularly as in this country most of ours are just a little bit smaller than the one Lesley has photographed.  It's a great read and I really recommend you click on the above link.  Thank you Lesley - I hope you will be guest blogging again in the future.

Talking of guest blogging, if you are interested, do get in touch.  I am looking for guest bloggers for mid-June  onwards and as you know the topic does not have to be craft-related (although they are very welcome to us crafters).  How about writing about your garden, your holiday, a hobby, something that you enjoy and enjoy talking about and sharing with others?  Please get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  I am looking for appx 600 - 800 words, plus lots of pictures and don't forget to add your links (Twitter, website, Facebook, etc) at the end of your text.

This week has been more social than work (boy, have I got to work very hard next week to catch up!).  I met up with Caroline (Caroleecrafts) on Monday morning for coffee and catch-up and we arranged to go (everything else permitting) to the Craft & Design Show at Secretts on Friday as Jane of Just Soaps of the Earth was taking part and she had very kindly sent me complimentary entrance tickets - thank you Jane.  I then went to lunch with a couple of other friends - discovered when I got to Clandon that the road I needed to go down was closed and the detour took me half-way around Surrey!  Well, it felt like it and as I have no sense of direction (Sat Navs were invented just for me), I had to follow the detour signs. I made it for lunch - just about.  Chelsea with my friend, June, was my mid-week socialising and time since then has disappeared without me achieving a lot.  Richard and I went to the Secretts event this morning; it wasn't very busy, but perhaps as it was near to 12 noon, most people were having lunch and leaving their visit until this afternoon.  Lots of different stalls: jewellery, cards, scarves, wood-turners and of course the best pongs were coming from the Just Soaps' stall.  Jane was elsewhere this weekend, but am guessing her husband was the one on duty down South.

Handmade this week has consisted of 'making' the garden and working through ideas for potential items to make for my business/website/events.  I am good at planning, noting ideas and identifying/researching what needs to be done, but getting my thoughts and plans into actions is not my strongest point.  This week's Handmade Monday was something I mentioned last week.  I began work on a willow wreath to which I am attaching fuchsia-pink hearts (I have sanded and glittered these and have used different sizes).  I also have some fuchsia-pink ribbon which I will make into a bow and at to the top of the wreath.  Once finished, I will post the final pic on my blog - I am hoping that I can expand using willow wreaths, but at the moment fixing the embellishments to the willow is proving tricky.  The hearts for this one have stuck, but not too sure if I feel confident that they will stay in place.  Any ideas for a glue to be used?

I will be back on Wednesday with my mid-week spot and don't forget I am looking for guest bloggers for 15 June onwards please, so do get in touch if you would like to join in.

Enjoy your week everyone - the weather forecast is for rain and lower temperatures.  Hate to say this, but my garden really does need the rain as I have lots of dry spots.

Jill