Weekly Snippets

Hello lovelies,

Here are the random things that I captured on my little camera in the first week of July.

1. My Lily plants are beginning to flower. The buds looked a bit nibbled and I wondered if they would be spoilt, but at least some have survived...........

2. Decorating the school hall for youngest's Primary school leavers party. This celebration was organised by the parents and it was a real group effort. I felt so glad to be part of this lovely group of parents........

The children had a great time, so all the effort was well worth it.

The parents may be lovely, but many looked at me oddly when I offered them this bunting as we took down the decorations at the end of the night. I know it's just cheap stuff......but it's still cheery and I think it looks great in the garden..............

two other mums did take some too, in the end.

3. A visit to a summer fair with my sister in law and niece.
Everywhere looked lovely in the sunshine. I adored these climbing roses.............

The village it was held in was so pretty. This cute white cottage looked gorgeous with it's pink hollyhocks........

and the church was the simple type I like so much...............

I also loved this cottage...........

We looked around some gardens, where we found quiet corners...........

And pretty butterflies...............

this is the first Comma I've seen this year.

4. All in all it's been a busy week and not much crafting has taken place, but I did squeeze in the time to make a card for my grown up niece who has just got engaged..............

Her boyfriend proposed in Paris...........how romantic...............

They are cat lovers, that's why I've included some feline friends :0)

I'm really pleased with how it turned out....I hope it makes them smile.

Thank you so much for all your kind comments on my latest posts.

Hope you all have a good week
Jacquie x

A Postcard From.....

Hello Lovelies,

do you ever buy postcards , not to send to anyone, but as a small memento of a visit somewhere?

Last week I couldn't resist picking up the top photo, of Hunstanton, in the Rock shop.

 My Lovely sister in law popped the bottom one in with my birthday prezzie......she is so thoughtful..........

I know I take loads of photos, but I still love a printed image and they are so inexpensive.

I think my favourite postcards are not photos though....but art of various sorts.

They don't  have to be of the place we have visited to bring back memories.
I love these cheerful postcards I bought on a rainy seaside visit back in 2012..........

 They made me smile when the weather wasn't kind. Read about that visit HERE.

These colourful Janet Bell images are wonderful don't you think.
 I bought them last year in Cornwall, and  they remind me of a day spent at PORTH BEACH, even though they don't feature images of the place it's self.............

Here's a lovely postcard sent to me by Heather......I love it's cheerful flowers and it reminds me of a happy giveaway win.............

 It's by Caroline Rose

This little picture is not really a postcard, but part of a letter.

 When I left home at 18 years old mum wrote to me in my student accommodation. This sweet drawing was at the bottom of one letter. I loved it so much I framed it and hung it on the wall...........

 It's tiny, smaller than a postcard, and the van is  my first car.....a  little red mini van....happy memories. 

This week, for the first time in ages, I've been enjoying a little drawing.........With my favourite old pencils.......

In my messy drawer I came across these...........

They are blank postcards............I could design my own postcard, but what to draw?

The paper is really for painting on so it's quiet rough, but I like that they have the lines on the back, ready for a message and a stamp.............

What did I draw?

Well 

THIS............

It's A Postcard From My Walk :0)

Featuring that clover munching hare and my favourite butterfly...........

A little memento of a happy time.

This was a sweet and simple Saturday morning project that I really enjoyed doing.

Do any of you lovelies have a postcard collection?
Jacquie x

P.S. If you are wondering about the crochet in these photos it's THIS baby blanket. I still haven't managed to part with it yet :0)

Clumber Park....more photos and a Journal Page

 Hello Lovelies,
I took so many photos on our family visit to Clumber park the other week that, even after THIS picture heavy post, I was left with many more.
I thought I would share a few more here, to get you back into the atmosphere of this wonderful spot, before I share my latest drawing.

There was such a variety of things to see on that sunny day.
The formal bits.........

 

The woody bits.........

The watery bits..........

 

The busy bits.........

The special kitchen garden bit...........

The yarny bits............

 

The Floral bits ( though there were not many of those in February ).........



The behind the scenes bits ...........

The funny bits..........

The knitted bunting............

 And the birds................

All these images have been going around in my brain over the past week or so. Ideas have been forming .
There has been plenty of "thinking time" ( a phrase my lovely Dad used to use when he was in the early stages of planning his latest project).
Little sketches have been made on scraps of paper, then bigger sketches have been made.
I decided to try including some photos for the first time.

You lovelies know the colouring is my most favourite part. All the difficult decisions  and tricky drawing is done . I can just get out my coloured pencils and make it come alive.


Here is the finished page.............

            As always you can click on the images to see them larger in a light box.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, but I do wish it was easier to take a decent photo of my drawings. I did try.


Here are some close ups....they always turn out better...........

 I did a border of bikes , they were easier to draw than the wellies. 

And I included a photo of my favourite yarny apple..........

I had fun with this map of our route around the lake...........

The photos I included were of things that I wanted to remember, but that would be too tricky for me to draw. So there's one with my little family enjoying their rest. And one of the amazing Victorian greenhouse............

Clumber is a National Trust property so I included their oak leaf logo ..........

And I also tried out my new date stamp. I've seen journal pages with this retro feature and liked this fun way to include the date in my design. It reminds me of an old Library stamp, but this clever little thing is self inking..........

Of course I have my photos and blog posts, so there is no need to do these drawings to record special times. But  I loved the whole creative process.

And the finished page makes me very happy.

Thank you so much for your congratulations on my exciting crochet news. If you have just found me via Simply Crochet magazine....Hello and Welcome.
Don't forget there will be a little give-away here later this week :0)
Jacquie x

Random Nostalgia

Hello Lovelies,
I feel a bit daft even sharing this strange little project of mine, let alone giving it it's own post. It's slightly odd, but I'll share it anyway.

Here goes.
Last week I was washing up an empty passata jar ( it's sieved tomatoes, brilliant in Bolognese ) when it struck me how similar the shape was to the old milk bottles we used to have when I was a child

An internet search turned up these pictures of the 70's milk bottles I was thinking of...........

source

Our milk came directly from the farmer, he delivered it himself and the name of his farm was printed on the bottle rather like this............

source

I'd love to own one those bottles today. They were an everyday item that we took for granted but which seem so nostalgic to me now. I decided to make my own version 

I considered crocheting a cover for my bottle , but I've done that before HERE

So instead I simply drew a  version of the design used on these bottles on paper and taped to onto my bottle.........

The green ribbon covers up the screw top and is a reminder of the green foil top our milk  had....that was green for raw, unpasteurised milk..... not green for semi-skimmed :0)

I picked some forsythia from the garden at the weekend and now it's flowering beautifully in my wacky, "random nostalgia vase" 

Do any of you lovelies remember these bottles or suffer from random nostalgia like me?

I'm only in my forties but many of my sentences begin with " I remember when......" I do wonder what I'll be like in years to come!

Actually there are quite a few reproduction milk bottles being manufactured today....so maybe I'm not that odd. My favourite are the Emma Bridgewater ones, of which THIS is my favourite design.

Jacquie x