But what I really wanted to write about is a wonderful compliment, and I’ve had two over the past two days!  The tutorial I wrote for this months issue of Beads and Beyond is for my crocheted curtain rings, they look better than they sound, trust me!  In fact you can trust Jo, look at her gorgeous blog Daisychain Designs, she makes stunning silver jewellery, a skill I can only marvel at.  Fortunately for me though, Jo can also crochet, and she has made one of my designs!  Not only does she like it, but more importantly, she can read my instructions - they really work!

They are fab, love the colour!

There is also a link on the Beads and Beyond website here for a tutorial for the vintage variation of the Reflections set

The necklace

The earrings.

My second compliment was from a previous tutorial, someone has sent a letter in to the magazine with a photo of my Vintage Lace bracelet they made!

PEOPLE CAN FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS!!!!

And more importantly, choose too!

I am slllloooowwwwwlllllyyyy getting there, but on the plus side there is so much interesting stuff to find, and this morning I was chatting to a friends mum I haven’t seen for years - Hey Nita!

Right, I’m having a break from the screen and do some nice simple quiet crochet - before I get the monsters…

Edit

hopefully you can find me here:

click here

Shaz, on her blog  thesockgarden which has fantastic photography of her witty creations in situ, (I mean, whats not to love!)

does interviews with fellow craftspeople and this week spoke to amyorangejuice. I really enjoy reading how other people got started doing what they love and where their inspiration comes from.

One of the questions was:

 If you were stuck on a desert island and were allowed to take one new crafting project with you based on something you admire in another shop, what would it be?

Amyorangejuice replied that she would love to master crochet and would like to take something from my shop as inspiration!  Talk about chuffed!  So thank you Shaz and amyorangejuice, you’ve made my day!

I was browsing the internet last night (couldn’t sleep), going from link to link when I realised how much I ‘take’ from it and from peoples sites and blogs, looking at their links and so on and seeing all these wonderful ideas and objects that I wouldn’t have found otherwise, when I thought that actually, I should share some of mine.

The only connection will be that I like it, they maybe from shops, blogs, museums, old and new, but occasionally I will share, and not just talk about myself!

So, first up - but how can I choose, when you start to think about it there is so much - I never really did get back to sleep last night, once I got the idea my mind was full of images. 

Finally I settled on Alison Watt, one of my absolute favourite artists.  I saw her work in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, in an exhibition called Shift in 2000.  It was purely by chance, we were  there with my parents, a last break before our first was born.

I was blown away, these huge paintings of folds and drapes in fabric with minimal colour.  So deep and tactile, so strangly moving.  There is something about almost bare images, focusing on small details that we miss, particually within textiles that always draw me in, especially when explored in huge scale.

For more information, and to see more pictures like these 3 go to Ingley Gallery, or just google Alison Watt, trust me, you’ll be browsing for  hours!

Do you know, I love being a mum, It really is the best feeling in the world - to say it is all encompassing doesn’t seem to be enough.  Nothing at all can beat the feelings of pride, joy and love, nothing.  But with every ying there has to be a yang, and boy, has this been a week of yangs! 

However, I’ve deleted this post several times now and will not inflict on you my rantings,  musings and then platitudes that we all fall back on, what I will do is show you a picture of a few little pressies I’ve made the lovely women folk in my life.  Its a rubbish photo, I’m showing it more as a reminder for me, but Aunty Irene, Aunty Marg, Nan and Mum - love you lots!

So no more!  I have ‘experimented’ with my last new idea, I am only going to explore ideas I have already set in motion, like this one I started yesterday…

Its made from scraps of Amy Butler fabric I’ve had for a while, a bit of an old dress, an old shirt and a favourite but broken necklace, and of course a bit of crochet, a double shell trim that I extended to fit the flap.

I boxed the corners and lined it with interlining to give it some stiffness so it retains its shape.  I’m now envisaging a whole range of them, all the same shape but with different fabrics and crochet bits SO I’M NOT GOING TO LOOK IN OR WRITE IN MY IDEAS BOOK.  I’m going to work on this for a while, and my curtain ring jewellery, I think that can go a lot further too.

So it is written down I am only going to work on those two ideas, although its half term next week so If I manage to do anything it will be a miracle!

On a last note, the latest issue of that fab magazine Beads and Beyond has a tutorial for my Miyuki earrings.  Those flowers are what I made that evening necklace and my beautiful green bracelet from as well - ooh - another idea I need to pursue…

I have a range of beautiful crochet hooks, threads and scissors, but looking at my pincushion I realised that it is functional, definately not beautiful.

The perfect excuse to make a new one, though I got a bit carried away with ideas

So these will be going into my folksy shop!

Next up, I’m going out!   I know, can you hear the fanfare too?  Anyhow, I got this gorgeous dress in the sales, bright emerald green, quite 50’s in style.  I thought perfect occasion to wear my new glamerous necklace I made, the one with the wire flowers… but it doesn’t go. 

So I made a bracelet that does!

Finally, I’ve also been spending, but not too much, honest!  Thanks to the Craft Neutral Challange I’ve only bought some jump rings this year, eveything I’ve made has been from my stash, and that includes several necklaces, bracelets, earrings, scarflettes and gloves!  And after all, we have to support the wonderful craftspeople we have!

So, after browsing through researching some of my favourites shops on Folksy I  saw these gorgeous brooches by the amazing artist Amy McCarthy 

They are recyled beer bottle tops filled with various found objects like shells, bits of old jewellery, shards of glass and set in resin.  I think this one is my favourite

or maybe this one

Check out Amys other fabulous glass products in her folksy shop!

So a nice piccie

Crocheted flowers waiting to go onto hairslides

and a bit of shameless promotion

I’ve put my Vintage Lace bracelet that I made for February’s issue of Beads and Beyond in my folksy shop - its a good Valentines day present!

Okay, so no one has a green neck but it was the best thing I could display it on, and It doesn’t work so well on the clear vase.

I crocheted 8 flowers in wire, using 2 beads for each stitch on the petals and used the tail ends to stitch them together.  It is so light and soft and molds to your neck shape perfectly.  I love it - can you tell!