on not knowing when to stop

So this is how it is now.

And this is how it was when I should have probably stopped.

I don’t know, what do you think?

I just can’t seem to stop tweaking things sometimes and then eventually I forget where I started from.

I think I just wanted it to look older and a bit worn and not so pristine. Not sure if I succeeded or not without ruining it.

Anyway, these two squirrels are enjoying a cup of nut tea on a huge fly agaric mushroom! I used another piece of English sycamore for the wood burning, it’s a large key ring.

I got a bit het up before when I was reading the news. The pope’s visit last year cost the taxpayer £10m, this was for just a few days. Apparently that is around about the same amount it costs the government (after timber sales) to look after the forests for a whole year. No disrespect, but I know which I would rather have.

If you haven’t already signed the petition to stop the government selling our public forests, please sign it here. You can also email your MP. The website makes it really easy to do and call me sad but it’s quite exciting to get a fancy letter through your door with ‘House of Commons’ embossed on the envelope (not cutting the stationery budget then?).

Right, feeling much calmer now, which is good considering I’m about to get hold of that pyrography machine again!

a magical place

On Sunday we spent a few tranquil but freezing cold hours on Llanddwyn Island (also known as lover’s island) on Anglesey. It’s a really special place and when you’re there you feel like you’re a million miles away from civilisation.


These tiny cottages used to be where the lighthouse keeper lived, I can’t imagine what that must have been like. Now they are all empty and one houses an exhibition of the island.

This is a very ancient, spiritual place. The view across the sea to the mountains of Snowdonia is really beautiful and the light is ever changing.

The only residents are the ponies who keep the grass down.


A really lovely place to be.
Strangely, I turned the TV on last night and there was a film on called Half Light with Demi Moore in it. She was standing in a red and white lighthouse and I said to Mr P that looks just like Llanddwyn but with a red and white lighthouse superimposed on it, and sure enough it was.

smouldering wood

The first attempt using my new pyrography machine was so much fun and my hair had the faint aroma of wood smoke for the rest of the evening. It surprised me how slow the process was but I found it so relaxing and satisfying that I’m looking forward to doing another one. First though I can’t decide if I’ve finished this piece or not and I’m in two minds as to whether I should fill in the tree or not. I have a bad habit of always pushing things too far and then wishing I hadn’t so I’ve decided to leave it for now. What do you think?

It’s destined to be either a large key ring or a small wall hanging.

I used an idea from my sketchbook. All my ideas seem to revolve around the forest these days probably because of my daily walks with Floss. It seemed fitting to use a nature based idea on the wood which is a lovely piece of English sycamore.

This is the wire tip that heats up to burn the wood. You can make all sorts of marks and tones depending on how long you hold it on the wood.

Speaking of the forest, the government is planning on selling off our precious woodland. You can find out more about it here and more importantly, there is a public consultation starting from today that will run for 12 weeks until 21st April 2011. If the issue is important to you then please take the time to respond to it. You can find the document on the forestry commission website and it is possible to respond online. This is our chance to make our views known.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

silver tea party

My mum loves tea and always makes it properly in a pot. It is always brought out on a tray with the milk in a little jug and a separate pot of hot water. It is their ritual at least three times a day. I think my mum would stop functioning without her daily cuppa.

So I decided to make a tea necklace. It took me a while to figure out how to construct a teapot from metal clay. I knew if I tried to make it straight from the clay that it would start to dry and crack before I’d finished it because of the short working time. So I made a prototype from polymer clay first. I spent ages getting it just how I wanted it and it was very fiddly being so small. When it was finished I realised that to make life much easier for myself I could make a silicon mould from it to create an exact replica (albeit a slightly smaller one with the shrinkage of the clay when it’s fired). That was a lot of fun! So I made a tea cup too.

The moulds were very easy to work with, the clay popped out without any problems, even with the very thin handles to deal with.

After firing and aging with liver of sulphur it looked like an old, well used teapot and I strung it with some crystals and a magnetic clasp to make it easy to take on and off.

I just wish the price of silver would come down. There are so many things dancing around in my head that I’d like to make but it is so expensive at the moment. I will have to start drawing them out in my sketchbook in preparation.

silver trinkets

I wanted to make Mr P a very personal gift so I spent some time thinking about textures and things he loves and holds dear. There is a pair of leather boots that he’s very attached to that I will forever associate with him so I decided to make a texture plate using some polymer clay. I was really pleased with the amount of detail it picked up and transferred to the metal clay. When I aged the fired silver with liver of sulphur and polished it back, the texture really popped out. It was like magic.

I think Mr P likes it. It’s dangling from his neck as I type.

a new year’s list

More…

1. blogging
2. crafting
3. laughing
4. fun
5. talking
6. loving
7. understanding
8. spending time wisely
9. making
10. photo taking
11. learning
12. celebrating
13. organisation
14. walking my wolflet
15. looking after my body

Happy new year to everyone! I hope that your year has got off to a good start.

I have a couple of new crafts that I’m planning on exploring more… the first is of course embroidery after winning that lovely prize last month, and the second is pyrography which has fascinated me for ages. Here are my first attempts at stitching (don’t look too closely!). Embroidered bags for Christmas presents.

I’ve had a go at stem stitch, chain stitch (this seems like a difficult one!), back stitch and french knots (which I’m not sure I’m doing as I should but they seem to come out like knots so I’m not complaining!). The motifs are adapted from the book Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray.

I also made a couple of fine silver trinkets as presents which I’ll share with you soon.

hibernation!!

I've just been woken out of my temporary blogging hibernation with a jolt! I have won the most beautiful amazing giveaway at the Mimilove blog!! I really can't believe my luck!! As I just said to Karen, I haven't won anything for a long time so I must have been saving all my luck up for something really wonderful! If you've not seen Karen's stitching and painting magic before go and take a look, it's really amazing artwork!! And to top it off I won a lovely book as well so maybe there will be some stitchery going on around here soon too!

Here I have been braving the cold and ice of the forest every day with the wolflet. The freezing fog has created the most amazing winter wonderland, with mini icicles adorning every leaf, twig and branch.

These photos of the rose are from last week before the real deep freeze kicked in. Needless to say, the rose is now hibernating too.

I've just been cutting out a freezer paper stencil with a scalpel knife. I'm typing this while I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the t-shirt. I'm so impatient that I have to distract myself so I don't pull the stencil off too soon and ruin it. There are also some silver metal clay presents in the works too but I will post about that another time so as not to spoil any surprises.

Keep warm and snug wherever you are! I am off to celebrate my win with a hot chocolate!