For Rip Van Winkle: Bird

Just in case you have been snoozing and haven't seen this yet...is there ANYONE out there in blog world that hasn't had a go at these yet?...well just in case look at link above...You may or may not see my feeble attempt above depending on whether or not I was brave enough to share a pic with you...I once read that a secret to a good blog is to show you are human...well there is proof in my pictures, far from best attempt at embroidery...all I can say is that if you are going to embroider it, do it with a trick marker because if you are like me you will change your idea as you go along as the aesthetics ( crikey spell check said I got that word right first time around, sometimes I impress myself LOL ) of it become more apparent as you stitch...and if you are a complete twit and did not use trick marker, felt tip pen marks do not compliment the embroidery no matter how much you try and persuade yourself otherwise! LOL

I'm going to try and do a mobile as soon as I find some yummy fabric that will do them justice.

Enjoy.

Doxie ...far from perfection!

Teaching myself to make better pastry

I bought myself some loose bottomed tartlet tins and they called for a better pastry than my usual shortcrust, so I tried my hand at Sweet tart pastry French style. I am very pleased with the results, the  crust has a hint of vanilla and a more biscuit-like texture than the shortcrust, 'yum!' I just can't stop baking at the mo, it's addictive, and yes I have started to put on weight, 'ahem!' I'm telling myself I need a bit more fat to keep myself warm through the Winter lol!

Doxie



Walking with Anaya

A few pics from my walk with Anaya. After a couple of hours grubbing around in the undergrowth looking for nice nature shots we vegged with Latte and cake, yum!

Wot no giraffes? I love the sky in this teasle shot.

 

Even a blackberry flower can be very beautiful.

soft like a nature painting

Wood monster's eye?

 Have the fairies been out with the 'Mr Sheen'?

 I had to put the camera on the ground and just hope it was pointing in roughly the right direction as I couldn't see... the screen was facing away from me.

I like the bokeh effect in the background!

 I love how the flowers hug this bench...just a few days later they had all finished flowering

 Pretty wood and flowers by the pond

Horse hill gate

I'm really looking forward to catching the Autumn leaf colour. So glad I can drive now, Woohoo!!!!

Life is good!
Doxie



cactus card

My DB loves cacti but I can't ever recall seeing a cactus card in the shops so I made him one on his birthday!

I got the pic from a free clipart site...sadly I can't remember which one. It certainly brought a smile to his face!

Doxie

Noo Glue gun

...I've been having a laugh with my new glue gun. The first thing I made was this card for my niece. She is a champion spider catcher so a spinny had to feature on her card!

It's probably not what you'd call a traditional birthday card but I think she will like it.

Gluing is so much fun, I think I will have to start breaking things just so I can stick them back together again lol.

My sis and I were learning about book binding recently. This is something I want to have a go at next. I have a few ideas floating around but will have to research it a bit more...as long as I can use my glue gun I don't mind lol.

Doxie

A little heart for a sweet friend

Here is a little something I made for one of my friends...It is about the 5th attempt... all the others ( the clay hearts, not friends ! ) were met by some sad fate or other...including one being stepped on by the dog...I put it out on the deck step to dry and he had to stand right there...he has all the garden yet he chooses to stand in the corner!!! By the time I got to this one I was running out of both patience and clay, so I am ignoring the fact that I put the lacquer on too soon after doing the writing, thus smudging it lol. I am trying to be less of a perfectionist anyway so this is good practice...and I am telling myself the odd mistake here and there makes it look made by an individual for an individual, rather than mass produced by a stranger for a stranger!

Doxie :o)

UFO on the home run

Can you guess what it is?

How do you like my expertly hand sewn buttonhole stitching?

I have a feeling this pic may give it away...that is if you read French lol.

I reckon it'll be completed by the end of June. In reality there is not much to do now it is just a case of actually doing it when I get the time. Lets hope the next pics I take of it are the finished item!

Dox