Bringing in the May...

 

Bluebells, a surprise present from my new garden to me...

 

We moved in as winter began, so its only in the last few months that I have really had the chance or desire to start venturing in to the garden to see what is already here.  I'm trying to resist the urge to start planning and planting straight away, I want to give the garden time to show me what is already happily growing and which areas catch the sun throughout the day...

 

As tired as I am of hearing the cloying phrase "spring has sprung!" I do in fact, love spring, it's probably my favourite season and not just because it heralds in my birthday.  It's the stirring of new life; plants turning green, trees turning in to confetti, animals building nests and engaging in speed dating to produce cute mini versions of themselves. The light slowly returning and making you realise just how much you've missed it... Spring is exciting, it's a season of change, all things start to seem possible again The lethargy of winter isn't quite over but it starts to feel like it could soon be...

The blossom this year has been pretty spectacular with minimal rain and winds to crash the party and send everybody home early. The parks have been full of blossoming trees, garish daffodils and jewelled tulips. The crows are building their nests and all the tiny song birds are out and about...




Magnolias are one of my favourite spring blooming trees, there's just something so irresistible about their flouncy goblet shaped petals. Like land stuck water lilies, swaying in the breeze...

I bought this tree for my garden recently and I hope it will provide me with many beautiful clarion calls of spring for years to come...

 The new garden has two established trees and the masses of blossom on this pear tree promises a lot of fruit to come, possible more than we will know what to do with...

My Japanese maple tree has happily survived the winter and is starting to open up its dusky red leaves, the bright early morning sunshine and last golden rays of the sinking afternoon sun are the best times to view the plant and the play of light on the leaves is a thing of pure pleasure...
 

The Wishing Chair...

Once upon a time there was a girl who read a book called 'The Wishing Chair,' and after she read it, she decided she wanted her very own rocking chair. If it also flew her to magical places, that would be a bonus...

Well as rocking chairs were hard to come by back then, being decidedly "not on trend," and the girl had little means of her own, being very young and without the magic of the internet, she had no luck finding such a chair.

Many years passed and the girl grew up and became distracted by many other weird and wonderful things, but in the back of her mind was always the childlike desire to possess her very own wishing chair.

Finally there came a day when the girl realised that rocking chairs were finally "trending right now" but she realised to her dismay that they were either terribly expensive or cheap on eBay but many miles away and with "collection in person," as a condition of sale.

The girl almost gave up hope...

Then one day she found herself wandering  through a car boot sale when lo and behold, there amidst the dust and the dirt and the all pervading smell of fried onions that always seems to invade car boot sales, the girl spotted, at last, a rocking chair.

 

It was a thing of joy to her although up close she realised it was a little battered and most definitely what could be described as "pre-loved."

 

But no matter, armed with a trusty brush and a tin of so very purple paint, she was able to transform it in to a magical bohemian wishing chair of wonder and if it isn't quite able to physically sprout wings and fly her to mysterious places, at least she can curl up in it with a good book and imagine she somewhere far far away.

 

 

The End

 

Not just for Valentines...

Hearts! Who doesn't love hearts? They're such a pleasing shape, unlike the real thing...

 

I stitched this folk art inspired heart the other day on to a wooden pendant.

I like the contrast between the (literally) soft embroidery floss and floral motif; against the hard background material of the wood.

 

 

Bilbo and the Butterfly

I took a stitching project with me when I visited my parents the other day. Their little foxy dog was intrigued with my wooden butterfly pendant.

Stitching on pre perforated wooden objects is fun because you can immediately utilise the project without having to frame it or stitch it on to something else. This makes it especially good for jewellery and other accessories like key chains etc...

It can present different challenges to stitching on fabric though as there is no 'give' with the material. You cannot manipulate your needle and thread in the same way as you would with fabric. Starting off and finishing off can be a bit more of a fiddle and I think overall, you have to sacrifice a bit more thread to the project.

I'm very happy with the end result of my colourful butterfly pendant though.

 

 

Red or Dead or My Undying Love for Henna

I love Copperhead, one of the new shampoo bars from Lush Cosmetics; created to add shine for darker hair tones with red Persian henna for shine and condition and cocoa butter to soften the hair as well.

Coffee and roasted cocoa extract blend with Fairtrade vanilla absolute and vetiver oil to create a rich intoxicating fragrance, that is equal parts exotic spice market meets decadent chocolate temple.

I've used shampoo bars before, they are great for travelling as they are so light, make no mess and last for ages. However, as my hair is long, fairly thick and quite curly, I've found them a little too drying for regular use in the past. They can make my hair a bit fluffy.
I usually use Lush's 'Cynthia Sylvia Stout,' a liquid shampoo that adds weight and is good for shine but I wanted to try the henna shampoo.

I was initially a little sceptical about Copperhead, the henna aspect intrigued me; I'm a redhead and I use Lush's Rouge Henna to enhance my natural colour, creating a darker but brighter end result; but I wondered how much difference the shampoo bar could make with so little henna going on to my hair for such a short time.

I was wrong and was really impressed from my first use at how shiny my hair was afterwards and the cocoa butter really seems to have helped counteract the tendency to make my hair fluffy. In fact, after a few uses, I was asked by several friends at work if I had recently dyed my hair as it was so shiny. 

It's definitely become one of my favourite Lush products already and I think it will be one of my staple products from now on. 

I just hope they bring out a few more products in that delicious aroma.

More henna love below with the gorgeous mehndi I had done in Pushkar in India...

Totoro To-to-ro

The end of 2014 saw some big changes for me, biggest of all, moving house. Amidst all the upheaval of house moving, house unpacking and work being the busiest it is all year, I didn't find time to work on all the stitching projects I had planned.
However, with the year still fresh and currently rather sunny where I'm sitting, in spite of the rain, I've felt the urge to start crafting again.

What better way to be seduced back in to stitching than with this adorable little guy?

 



I'm a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki films and I love the sweetness of 'My Neighbour Totoro;' it may not be as sophisticated or dynamic as some of the later epic tales like 'Spirited Away,'  'Princess Mononoke,' and 'Howl's Moving Castle;' but it retains an understated charm that bears repeat viewings.
Totoro himself of course has gone on to be the definitive Ghibli icon and regardless of whether or not you buy in to internet rumours of dark, tragic implications throughout the film (denied by the director,) it's hard not to fall for the mountainous ball of fluff.

Bohemian Granny Squares

 

You know, the ones your bohemian grandmother would make, the one who spent her youth in Asia chilling out with Tibetan monks and learning yoga from a guru in Kerala. That one.

Using my new found crochet skills, I used up some bits of colourful wool that had been lying around FOREVER in my sewing basket.

 
 

These squares are all the same pattern but I tried to achieve different looks by changing the colours of the thread in different places and in different ways to create unique looking squares.

I hope to master a few new designs in the near future as I am planning to incorporate all my random squares in to one big blanket eventually.