Thursday, 7 August 2014

The joys of working outside...and kittens!

This summer has been so nice! To be able to work outside in all the natural light has just been fabulous.


I'm afraid my 'workshop' doesn't look very glamourous, just my bead box, tools and a table, but it does me just fine. I had lots of cat company,  from Indiana on my left.

Who took time to catch up with some grooming, to keep herself looking tip top! Chloe foster cat  was on my right.

She is a BIG girl, even though I've had her on a diet it doesn't seem to have done much good! Pip sat behind me on the newly painted pew.


I like the little tuft of fur poking through the box!


These were just to the side of me, looking just perfect in the sunshine. They must have liked the mild winter as they have really grown big this year with lots of flowers.



The baskets are still doing well although have failed to trail the 1 metre as was promised, but they still cheer me up no matter.

I was amazed I got so much done as the house is full of little 'time wasters' now. We had a litter of three kittens come in the week before.


This is 'Pete the feet' as he's EVERYWHERE! He has already found a home and will be leaving us shortly. I just know he will give lots of love and laughs to his new owners. The fluffy is Mr Dinks, who is more shy and unsure of humans just yet, but we're working on him.



This is Mr Tinks, a very thoughtful sensible cat. He will make a nice calm companion for someone.




Then Saturday another 5 little ones arrived, who could abandon these faces? I just despair sometimes of people.




I haven't named them yet, but they are all doing well, after de-fleaing and worming and a bit of a sponge bath!




This one has been reserved already. They are only 5 weeks old, so won't be ready to leave for new homes for a bit.I love kitten fostering, I get to have all the kitten cuddles and fun, and it's nice to get updates from their new owners and know they are now well looked after. I don't even mind all the mess and chaos...it doesn't last forever!




This little boy has the biggest eyes I've ever seen. He will be simply stunning when grown up. Bless them all, and I'm on the case to finding good homes for them all. 

So I was actually  surprised at how much I managed to make on Sunday and there is no better reason than kittens to stop working!


And finally............whilst David was in the dentist reading a magazine. he found me my perfect cat!






One that does the cleaning! Hooray! Although he doesn't look very happy about it!









Thursday, 17 July 2014

A bead box clear out!

I've dug deep into the depths of my bead box and come up with some new markers! 

 Summer flowers




 Mini Trios



It was a good time to do a bit of a stock check and think about what I need to order for Christmas. Yes I did say Christmas! Summer months sales slow a little as it's too hot for knitting in most places, and we're all outside enjoying the sunshine. So July and August are a good time to make lots of stock and dream up new ideas...sat outside of course with chilled lemonade!

 Trios

Sunset


Plans afoot for some new felting projects......unique storage for markers and knitting projects. Still in the early frustrating design and  test pieces but I'm sure I will think of a way to get my plan from paper to item eventually! Currently the coffee table is host to quite a few 'not quite right' attempts so I can sit and look and think about how to correct the mistakes. I'll post some pictures once I'm happy with them.

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Finished projects and flowers

I finally finished the two felted bags which was just as well as my sister came to visit on Sunday and one was her belated birthday present. She'd spent her birthday in Spain this year and we finally caught up. I made her a strawberry cream cake and we sat outside enjoying the sunshine and chatting.


She loved her bag and said it would have been perfect for her holiday but I'm not that organised to get presents ready BEFORE the day!



The embroidery worked really well and was just as neat on the inside of the flap.


And I had lined it with purple satin.

She brought me a hand tied bouquet, picked fresh from her garden that morning. We did a flower arranging course a few years ago with Organic Blooms www.organicblooms.co.uk
at Acton Court our beautiful Tudor house in the village. www.actoncourt.com



The fuchsias have finally opened those little globes and revealed their frilly skirts, much to my delight.



And my 'tiny mouse' cuphea I think it's is it's botanical name, 
makes me smile every time I see them with their frilly ears and long bodies.



My new post bag has already seen some use and now I'm wondering if I do need to line it to give it some strength. But I also like the fact it folds up small once empty.



I couldn't quite capture the true colours. It is a deeper green and blends more than it shows here. But I seem to be be getting better at felting and I'm very pleased with it and glad I listened to the 'less is more' voice for once!

Monday, 30 June 2014

Felting with cats

Pip enjoying the blown vinyl feel of my resist!

I always shut myself in the kitchen to felt, to prevent the many paws from assisting me. But the weather is so warm and as the cats all seemed quite content and sleepy outside I thought I'd give it a go. Pip was the first to get involved, as the plastic foam packaging was rather nice to roll around on and dig your claws into. 


Mojo was content to stay outside in the new cat basket underneath the sweet scented surfinas, along with Indiana who was lounging on the table.



Saturday afternoon produced my sisters birthday bag, my first attempt at resist felting and I was pleased with the outcome...I just hope she is!



It just needs some embroidery on the top flap, and a strap to finish it off. At least sunny days make for items drying very quickly.



The baskets are coming along lovely and filling door outdoor space with lots of colours and scents and wildlife too, butterflies and bees in the day and moths at night. The purple petunias are beginning to trail, so maybe they will do what it said on the label!


My fuchsias are about to burst from their lantern shapes and I can't wait to see those frilly dresses as I can't remember what colours I picked! 


The calenedula were just soooo orange in the sunshine! My two favourite colours, orange and green.

My cadbury purple petunias are just so velvety, and the colour makes me think of chocolate!



Anyway time to get on with the felting, but not before actually scribbling down some ideas in my notebook which has seen quite a bit of use. The plan was to make a new post bag in green. So I made a template to make sure the edges were straight to start with. It was too big for the kitchen worktop so I had to use the dining room table. The plan is to just join those edges so it makes a block bottomed bag, but this time I measured more accurately so it should look neater.



David came in with a nice cup of tea and said he felt the urge to roll about on all that fluffiness, and I know what he means! Foster kitten Zoe was evicted as it was just too much for her to bear! She is finally re-rehabilitated after her dreadful start in life and it has taken 6 months of much patience to get her to like humans and help from Chloe another foster who was taken to the vet for a PTS because they didn't want her anymore. Now I just have to find her a loving home.




So the base was the easy bit, now for the design.

With the worlds 'less is more' ringing in my head, I utterly deviated from the plan drawn earlier and did my own thing! It was supposed to be all shades of green and very muted, but after looking at that calendula the orange, yellow and browns came out!


And although it looked OK to me for a while, I felt it was a bit busy (yes me thinking it was too much!). Bearing in mind I hadn't used any angelina or curly locks at all and felt quite proud I had resisted that temptation, but had gone a bit mad with introducing the hot colours. So I took off the leaves in the corners and re-arranged the smaller stars, still not sure whether to just strip it back to green.




Final decision was to leave it like this and get on with rolling. So back out to the kitchen as this table just breaks your back as it's too low.


At least the view when rolling is pretty this time of year! David wanted cappuccino coffee so he got roped into some of the rolling whilst I made us some.  I stupidly forgot to photograph the end result, so that will have to come later. But it was a lovely sunny weekend at home, making things, drinking coffee and sitting in the sun and tickling cats!