Family and friends

Almost finished my red doll, wasn't sure about her face but I played around with her hair and suddenly she looked pretty. I want to make her a crown ,but will need to think about how to do it, I also am realising I might have to change her legs so I can give her some shoes.

It rained last night and the poppies in the garden are an incredible red ,the roses are more of a deep pink but please my continuing feeling for red.

Artists trading cards and Red

Yesterday I did two things that influenced how I spent today,I dyed a bedspread red and found out all about ATC'S.ATC's have to be an exact size and cannot be bought or sold, you can decorate them as you like then when they are finished you can swap them with other people .

I was so pleased with the bright red of the bedspread that was a grubby flea market buy last weekend that I had the colour red in my head all day. I wanted to photograph the red roses in the garden but it rained and rained instead I wore my red shoes and red top then when I began to try and make the ATC'S I found myself choosing red. I might add some words ( if I can find the right ones)tomorrow.Then I must find out how to discover ATC makers and do a swap.I think that may be the difficult bit!!!

Changing my blog and ATC'S

Spent hours today with the help of a good friend learning how to change this blog. I am finding it very addictive and shall have to watch just how the time can fly by and other things don't get done. I made the collage some time ago and after looking at one of my favourite blogs and seeing some ATC'S Shaz has been making wondered if I could use a theme like the collage for some I could make. Shaz has made some, drawing amazing doodles, to exchange with other artists.

Tony's finds

Tony found many many more things than me, but he buys not just for himself but to put on his auction site. Often there are so many wonderful things I would like to keep,but added to my own finds which I do buy for myself our house would soon overflow. So Tony just keeps things he really can't bare to part with. Luckily for me I usually love them too.

I began my walk through the fair a few hours later, Tony had already found a bag full of treasure which he was pleased to show me when we met for coffee. His finds made me anxious to start my hunt, so giving the lovely tabby cat a brief stroke I set off.

Within minutes I had made my first buy, a portemanteau, a rack of 4 pretty heavy metal coat hooks ,just what we need for our new porch. A few minutes later I was sorting through a pile of old postcards, when I had bought several I hurried on and soon found the pretty cream silk bag, a some what battered wax headdress and corsage , a box of vintage velvet flowers, mostly cream, just perfect for repairing the headdress. Before long I had a bag almost full of goodies.

A weekend away

Spent the weekend staying in a small Spa town in Orne, here in France. We go there every year as the town holds an enormous flea market/brocante along the road through beautiful woodland. On friday we met up with friends from England and stayed two nights in a small hotel in the center of the town and only a few minutes walk from the start of the fair.Tony got up very early the first morning and before 5:00 was having coffee in a nearby bar where he was amused to find the same large tabby cat asleep on the same sofa in the same bar he visited every year before beginning his search for treasures to buy.

Slowly slowly.

I painted this on a beautiful sunny day like today,its good to have to look at in the winter as a reminder of better days.

I managed to download it through Photoshop fairly quickly so I am beginning to learn how to use it.The colours are not right at all but I'm pleased I have made one small step.

This weekend we are going to an enormous flea market a long way from here and will be staying in small hotel for two nights. What a joy!!

Hopefully I will find some pretty bits and pieces to add to my already far too big hoard

It has taken me several hours to work out how to download a photo from a newly bought photoshop. I am now very confused and am going to buy Photoshop for Dummies as soon as I can.
This morning I wandered around the house and took photos of some of my favourite things I had made and things in the house I love. I thought they would be good photographs to experiment with using Photoshop. It is something I want to be able to use but have I the patience and can I bare to spend the time? I shall try again tomorrow I hope.
I can see this beautiful plant as I sit here, it wasn't the picture I expected so will have to try again tomorrow

A contented duck

While we were over at the lavoir trying to take the photo of the duck now he's back and happy,the mayor came by with his wife. They had brought us some plants for the wood and wanted to invite us for a meal. Somehow things got turned around and as two friends had had to cancel coming to us tomorrow we found ourselves inviting the mayor and his wife to come.They are lovely people and we will be pleased to see them. The tiny drawback is that we have felt compelled to make every corner of the house shine andTony hurt his back in his haste to plant everything we were given before tomorrow.We would of have made the house tidy for our friends of course but maybe not quite so!!

Working hard

The week has flown by with many ups and downs. A young crow nearly drowned in our lavoir, saved by Tony and Elias our young neighbour, but we thought for a while, at the cost of the little duck. It seemed he was just frightened by the commotion and fled somewhere and hid. He has now returned and we were very pleased to see him. His wing feathers haven't grown back yet so he is still very vunerable. I intended to word on two dolls this week and set myself the task of working each morning for 30mins on the borders of my Rosy quilt before the dolls. I spent ages choosing materials and bits and pieces and then found myself playing with the white shoe not making progress with the dolls. I am trying to nerve myself to cut up the free embroidery in the backgrond of the pictures as part of the larger doll's skirt. The embroidery was done along time ago and I have never found a use for it so think I should cut it up.The cream silk material I found at a Flea market at the weekend it is very pretty and will make a skirt for the smaller doll .I have boxes of old jewellery so have plenty of choice even if I use some on the shoe.

Its cold and windy.

Its another cold and windy day and its difficult to find a reason not to be fed up. I spent all day yesterday in my workroom as Tony was busy finishing the work needed round the new windows. I would like to go to the beach or have a meal outside perhaps but we would get blown away.The duck is happy and has become more adventurous, I wonder how long it will be before his wing feathers will have grown back and he can fly again

I added to my pile of items that need framing when I finished this collage yesterday. I also began a new doll for the Cinderella challenge on Cloth Doll Artistry,I have some wonderful 19th century wide, fine silk ribbons I am going to use, and I want to put lots of vintage jewellery on her bodice.

Finished !

I finished this last night so now I think I will work tomorrow on the quilt started some time ago.

I found some wide fine 19th century ribbon yesterday at a flea market. It was very expensive but so pretty with tiny flowers all over.

I know it would look wonderful as part of a dolls dress!! but maybe I can work for a while on the quilt and start a new doll?

I did manage to frame the embroidery, not very well because I hadn't thought about the fact that it isn't square. I also finished my first collage the red one,and have almost finished the second one.I am going to add a phrase, the photos are of my mother,first as a child then a teenager then in her 80's.I have realised I don't like the bottom heart and it needs something in the top left hand corner.

Things to finish

Some of the many things I found that need to be finished when I tried to sort out my workroom.

I found several I can't even remember what I had planned to do with them.

Election Exhaustion

One of our cats didn't come for breakfast this morning. For a while we worried as he is a greedy cat as a rule. Then we remembered he had sat with Tony last night watching the election r.esults come in. He stayed there after Tony gave up. There he was still asleep in the basket, exhausted no doubt from the excitment of the election results.

Quiet days

For two days I have tried to organise the chaos in my work room and finally finish some of the many almost there items . I did partly succeed but kept finding things I had forgotten about, and then stopped to play with them. Thinking I could do this or I could do that and then started another sort of collage because I found several photos of my mother. I also looked again at Rose the doll made by my lovely french friend and she now sits on my bed. Then I made some rolls, very necessary because if we buy one of those long french baguettes we eat all of it, but we only have one roll. We love the tarts and cakes made in our local Boulangerie as well ,they are irresistible if we are in there to buy bread. I framed my embroidery, it was difficult because it isn't square but it will have to do.

This morning am going to try and put my mind to framing this piece of work. I have a frame but suppose I shall have to some how sew it across the back to hold it in place before I put it in. Framing is the bit I find most difficult and things can get left for along time. Am putting some work in an exibition in the summer so need to be sorted. When it is in the frame will post another picture.

I am up early today and the sun is already shining I hope it stays. I had my hair cut yesterday and though I firmly said please only cut about one centimetre off it is the shortest it has ever been. I think I need a wig before I can venture out .

The head of the young girl has a small label which reads 'au village'.These busts are becoming more difficult to find and usually expensive so I was lucky to find her and pay very little. Only problem now is finding a place to put her!!

Yesterday morning I stayed at home and Tony went off to a Flea Market at 6:00.(You will undestand why I didn't want to go, far too sleepy.) He came home 4 hours later with a bag of finds, I immediately felt fed up that I hadn't gone with him. After giving him a cup of coffee I mentioned causually that maybe he should go back just to check there weren't any new people selling since he had come home. I would keep him company!! So off we went.It was very busy but I found some wonderful things including a bust of a young girl and an advertising poster. I have managed to persuade him I need to keep both .I would like to keep the rose jardinire, the clock, and the enamel kitchen cloths holder as well .