my pumpkin carving is a little more advanced than last year.
A bit of cut and paste saves the day when the shops are all out of skeletons.
(pattern courtesy of Jennifer Claerr ...and a lot of fun it was as well as using up all of that Amazon book packaging that I have been saving. I knew it would come in useful.)
Perfect weather,a converted walnut mill in the south of France and five whole days devoted to making and filling books...that was how I spent a week of my holidays. It was as idyllic as it sounds- a well balanced and mixed group of characters, picture perfect countryside and an inspiring tutor.
the studio- L'Espace
Les Soeurs Anglaises in the Dordogne region played host to the book art workshop run by Rachel Hazell. It was a beautiful place to stay;generous,charming hosts who created an idyllic space in which to relax and work, exceptional food ( a cook book is in the making ) and an inspiring studio workspace.To top it all off,I had a room with its very own bath that looked out over the terraced gardens across fields to the nearby village- bliss!
the view from my bath
A few mornings, I managed to get myself out of bed for an early run along quiet roads and back again, in time for a long soak in the bath before breakfast.
A' warm up book' -day one
Between, running, swimming and eating, I managed to squeeze in a little book making...
The theme of the workshop was Dictionaries and Definitions: A Personal A-Z.. The workshop outline promised that we would learn 'unusual and beautiful bookbinding techniques, with humour and the luxury of time to experiment".
That last bit about the 'luxury of time' sealed it for me - for me the week was about spending as much time as I wanted on each stage of the book. Nothing done quickly or just for the sake of filling the pages: the focus was on the process rather the the finished product.
Final book in the making
unitl my knee is fixed and I can run again ( much to the relief of my poor family). It's only been four weeks and 6 days*
*(that's if you ignore the ten kms I ran two weeks ago of the Wokingham Half marathon, before I had to stop. Personally, I don't count that one as I refuse to acknowedge a DNF and they don't have a Would Have Finished if I could Have finished but My Knee Refused to Cooperate category)
This clever pattern is free and can be found at A Little Backwards and here.
Surely, someone you know needs one of these....
(I didn't see the point in blocking this as it's going straight upstairs and into the bath.)
A few weeks ago, a friend and I went off for an afternoon of soapmaking, as my birthday gift to her. Neither of us had any previous experience so we both measured and mixed with great care and not a little trepidation. The workshop was held here at The Workshop, a lovely space to work in.
At the end of the three hours , we carefully carried home our well wrapped and insulated moulds full of soap. It has a few weeks left, before it is cured enough to use but I couldn't resist wrapping one bar up to send off as a gift. ( With a note of course to advise letting it rest for a week or two before using it.)
It smells like Christmas and I am told that once I use it, I will never want to look at a bar of commercial soap again.
Here's hoping.
knit.....using the 'just in time neck cozy' pattern found here. I used two strands knitted together of the gorgeous Manos del Uraguay silk blend (silk and merino extra fine wool) colour 6461- soft, drapey and with just enough shine. You can knit it up in about two hours and it makes a perfect gift. I think the next one will be for myself in a charcoal grey.
soup.....ugly but really delicious. Not only is it quick to cook but it's also good for you, so it ticks all of the boxes. The recipe is one I found attached to a bag of Puy lentils I bought a few years back, which I have tweaked a little.
I don't add the cream( why would you?) and I use powdered organic vegetable stock and water. Once the soup has finished cooking, I puree half and mix it back in so that you still have bits of carrots and lentils for texture. My final secret trick is to add the finely zested peel of a lemon which just gives it that subtle kick. Add some good sourdough bread and it's perfect.
fun....a friend took this very cute photo of my three girls...Grace playing the clown as usual.
As for the hair, well remember this?
All I need is the kooky hat and a few oompah loompahs running around.
(Actually I've always thought a few oompah loompahs would be quite helpful around the house...)
if anyone out there is really, truly considering buying this crystal and cashmere cuff- please talk to me first. I'll make you a much prettier one for half the price and even then I'll still be making a pretty profit......
( for anyone who doesn't have the time to click through it's a cool £ 214.00! I know it's cashmere and the crystals are Swarovski but honestly....)
Grace turns one on Tuesday.
This means that I spent a stupid amount of time last week searching the web for that right something to knit her. Because you can't have your first birthday without a handmade present from your mama.
(Of course Grace could but would I ever get over the guilt of knowing that the other two received their toys knitted by me but not poor third baby Grace....)
After a tip off from Di, I made my way to I Knit in London on Tuesday to do a bit of wool looking ( who am I kidding - of course I bought something).
On a high shelf on the way out,I spotted a lovely little polar bear. I found out that the pattern had come via patternfish, went home and looked it up and hit the 'add to cart ' button.
One ball of cream alpaca from the stash and two nights of knitting( and counting - you really need to keep count on those short rows) and the bear is ready to make up. Hopefully I have chosen a fiber that will felt- possible something I should have checked before I started knitting....
Looks just like one of those bear rugs that you throw on the floor in front of the roaring open fire. Maybe I'll knit me a big one for the living room when I'm done with first birthday bears.
Fingers crossed that he felts.
Tab curtains are very tedious to make and not very inspiring or exciting to photograph. Longer days have highlighted the pressing need for curtains to block out the light in the front bedrooms.The past week has been spent cutting, sewing and hanging. My pincushion and most of my pins went missing in the move and as I found that eight pins were just not quite enough when making curtains, new pins and a new pincushion were called for.
Which is why you see a photo of a pincushion rather than boring old tab curtains.
Much quicker and more fun to make, as well as a good excuse for a bit of therapeutic embroidery after stitching all those tabs.
A big thank you to everyone who has sent mail to Charlotte - such a big smile to greet the postman each day! Your postcards have been sent (or about to be posted - I am a little behind on the mail) so be sure to let me know if you didn't get yours and should have!
by now most of you would have read about, heard about ,looked at or perhaps even bought The Book. It seems so long ago that I put together my project for Meet Me At Mike's: 25 Fun And Crafty Projects.
(I guess it was quite a while as I was pregnant with Grace and she is about to turn one in a week or so....)
If anyone decides to make their own, I would love to see how it turns out.
I signed up for backtack 4 even though I know I really shouldn't have. Although it has been a bit of a stretch to fit it in, I am so glad that I did. Such a pleasure to steal a bit of time here and there to do something that was not on my must do list, but rather on my want to do list.
Finally, my parcel is ready to go and will be on it's way tomorrow. Once my partner at blooming heather has received her package I will pop a few photos up.
Now, the must do list calls.
Loudly.
