Hello

Thank you for looking at my blog. My latest passion is applique which I have been doing since 2015. I love making things and learning new crafts On this blog you will see some of the things I have been working on. You will also see wonderful items created by other people. When I am not crafting I enjoy being with family and friends, singing and family history. My favourite place in the whole world is anywhere by the sea and I have to get my fix every few weeks. My favourite colour is PURPLE but I love turquoise too!



Thursday, October 2, 2014

Lagoon beads

I fell in love with a set of lampwork beads on Etsy. Perhaps it was something to do with the colours? I tried them with lots of different colour combinations and designs but decided to stick with a very simple design using silver lined seed beads. I am very pleased with the result. She does some gorgeous ones in orange/red and green but I have nothing to wear with them!! 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, September 13, 2014

New Student

Susan spent a few hours beading with me and the necklace and earring set is her first effort. Like most people the most difficult task was choosing which beads to use. Once she had the hang of it I made two more cord necklaces. I love the way that the cord shows off beautiful beads. The only thing is they must have large holes so I have been through my stash and separated all these so I can make more of this type of necklace.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, September 8, 2014

Orange and Green

I love this colour combination so I must think how to use it. The photo was taken in the garden of the Burren Perfumery in County Clare. The perfumery won the Irish Times "best day out" this year and I am not surprised. Lovely things to eat, lovely things to look at and lovely things to buy!
 
 

Red is the Colour





Red is supposed to be
 
 
this season's colour so I have been using it. I made a rusty red short cardi for Katie and a scarlet hair band. These will keep her warm in Dublin this Autumn. When I started using red I saw it everywhere we went so here too are a few pictures from the Burren in County Clare.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Happy Birthday

I have made this very delicate necklace for Jill for her birthday. The stones are peridot's which are her birthstone. The lighter stones are freshwater pearls. I kept it very simple as the stones are so pretty.
 
 
 

Kidney Wires

I have been playing with very long kidney wires to make earrings. The black ones are for Nora and the blue are for Maggie. I think I might use some of my acrylic flower caps to make some summer ones for me. I like the length of these.
 

 

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Felting with Annie

Annie came to me for a days felting so we had a go at some landscapes. This is my first time at a landscape so I was a bit apprehensive. My first layer of merino was turquoise and I mixed dark purple on the 2nd. I did the design on the 3rd layer. I mixed lots of different greens and browns with a shot of purple along the mountain ridges  and mustard. I put various shades of blue and purple in the sea and some other fibers like angellina. I was pleased with the end result but it was so much better after doing some needle felting to define some of the contours and add some waves to the sea with white merino. I have decided to leave the shape organic.
 
Annie was inspired by the wild flowers in the hedgerows on the way over. She too needle felted hers.
 
Mine is titled South Kerry and Annie's is called West Cork Hedgerow.
 
I think we will do more together!    
 
 



 

Saturday, August 9, 2014

New Designs

 
 
I spent a day beading with Zara. I made a necklace for my sister using acrylic leaves, flowers, beads and pearls on a length of chain. I also made a necklace using some 1mm waxed cord in a dark blue. I had two strands of cord and joined them at the centre, using knots to hold the beads in place. You need lampwork or silver foiled lined beads as the holes are bigger. The best bit is that the length of the necklace can easily be adjusted to suit the wearer. I think this might be interesting with some little crochet flowers so maybe next time?
 
Zara used the chain technique and my stash to make a very colourful necklace.  
 
 
 
 

Monday, August 4, 2014

Gift of Time

My lovely friend Annie gave me a "Gift of Time" for my big birthday. I spent the day with her learning how to paint a silk scarf. I enjoyed learning about the process and really enjoyed seeing how the paints did their own thing. Annie is a very patient tutor and gets firm when needed. She took the paint brush from me in the end as I just wanted to keep blobbing - less is more!

 
The flowers in Annie's garden - how could I not be inspired?
   
The different layers of colour are added. I love the way the colours bleed into each other



Getting ready to steam the scarf. It is wrapped around a layer of plastic pipe and covered

Steam for one and a half hours to set the colour. The plastic pipe is inside the metal tube and set on a trivet. Cover each end with foil so that no water touches the scarf


Dry the scarf then iron it

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Finished!


My scarf is finished and I am really pleased to have completed it. There are 66 flowers which took roughly 30 minutes each plus the time it took to sew them together. I think it was well worth the effort. Bit too warm to wear it for a while though. 


Saturday, July 5, 2014

To block or not to block?



I was not going to bother blocking my Japanese flower scarf but decided it might be worth it. I think it will be well worth the effort. In the close up photo you can see the difference in the flowers that are blocked and the ones that are not. 

Monday, June 30, 2014

Love Learning


I love learning new things and really enjoyed my three day silversmithing course at Grennan Craft Mill. Our tutor Eva was wonderful and I shared the days with some lovely people. I am thrilled with the ring that I produced. I will be going back for more!

Friday, June 20, 2014

Explore West Cork

The knitting group summer exhibition is in the window at the library. It will be there all summer so it might give people some ideas of things to do. We have more things to go in at a later date, watch out for the saddle!





Beara Blues

I have finished the weaving that I did at our workshop. I did a painting to go underneath the weaving. I just have to wait now for it to dry. I love using oils but they take such a long time to dry. 



Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Chair Affair

Kevin did a workshop at Clara's Closet and made an old chair beautiful again. He painted it with Annie Sloan chalk paints and gave it a new seat pad in my favourite colours. It was hard work on a very warm evening but well worth it as he learnt lots. Here are before and after photos. The photos were downloaded from Clara's Closet Facebook page and you can see lots more interesting workshopson there. Fishing now, then maybe bedside cabinets, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe????? 




Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Everything is Painted Pink





We have just been on a trip to Northern Ireland. We kept coming across things painted pink. Here are some of the wonderful creations.  

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Time for Tea

Our knitted cakes went for an outing to the charity tea party this weekend. They were much admired and the plan is to take them on other outings. Here is a photo of our cakes with one of the Cobh Animation Team ladies. They are a group of seven women who dress up and attend fund raisers. They all wear dresses in the same colours and look stunning.


 

Saturday, May 24, 2014

California Dreamin




Katie is off to California for the summer so I have some things for her to take with her. The cowl neck jumper is to keep her warm on foggy days. I enjoyed knitting with this King Cole Opium yarn and the range of colours is gorgeous. Katie loves it. I have made her some sunshiney beads with orange cracked agate. I did not make the felted flower bracelet but I feel it adds to the hippy dippy look. Hope she has a great time, she deserves it. 


Halfway there

My Japanese Flower crochet scarf is growing. I think I am about halfway now. The flowers are fun to do but I am not so keen on the sewing up. 


Keeping Arthur warm


Arthur liked the stripy tank top I made him. He really likes the buttons on the shoulders so his  Mum doesn't have to pull it over his head. 

Yarn Bombing


I really am covering a fishing rod with knitting. All will be revealed at the end of June.