Friday 20 January 2012

A Small Tale to tell...

The week has shot past in the blink of an eye and I have realised I missed my Wednesday post!   A glance through my arts and craft magazine ignited yet another flame for a project which involves Polymer clay.  Whilst sipping at my coffee, I started to think about my dear friend Lynne and how talented she is at manipulating such a delicate material from a benign blob into a characterful miniature being, such as the little chap below.  I look at his face and ask myself, if he were real, what is he thinking?  Is he listening intently, trying to understand our complex language, slightly confused and yet totally focused on what is being said. Those tiny toes, the small snub nose and the delicate chin all created with the vision of the sculpture.  It fascinates me to know that every detail in this small little being, the clothes and the bear are created by hand.



If only I could have that sensitive touch I would create my own world of small people all with diverse characters telling their stories through facial expressions and sculptured clay.

I am in ore of such talent. Congratulations Lynne on this wonderful piece of work.

This little chap and his bear are for sale and I have included a link so you can take a look.

Ebay Link

Roll on my next project using polymer Clay!

Monday 16 January 2012

A Riverside Find!

Another one of my riverside walks has brought an unexpeted find!  Partially hidden from view amongst the long damp grass, a mystery item lay ungraciously discarded, unloved, unwanted and broken beyond repair ....or so it seemed!   Intrigued, by what this vibrant blue colour could be, I carefully reached into the grass to discover a rather new looking camping chair and on further inspection it became apparent that the frame was sadly broken.  My first thought turned to how disgraceful that visitors to this area should feel it is appropriate to just leave it there because it was broken and therefore rubbish. (or perhaps there is a belief that the "rubbish" fairies will flutter by on the winds and carry away all discarded litter in the midst of darkness!)

Then it dawned on me, my second thought, Hmmn, I have no wings but I am happy to be the one that flutters by and removes litter from the beautiful landscape and with this thought I gathered the sad looking chair and headed for home, hubby in tow muttering "that's rubbish, broken and of no use to you!"  "Aaaah but it is" I declared and walked even more swiftly with a plan firmly embedded in my mind.
 

My plan was to replace the tatty old green cover from my well used camping chair with the pristine blue cover from the chair I had just saved from the jaws of the rubbish tip or at worst layiing decayed and rustly in time by the river!  With the swift use of a screwdriver the old green ripped cover was removed....
 and expediently relaced with the whole refurbishment taking 5 minutes!  There is nothing more satisfying than recycling...It's truly fabulous and very rewarding.

My chair has now another 5 years of life....thanks to a walk along the river, who'd have thought it!

Wednesday 11 January 2012

I'm Back!

Sorry that I have been away for so long, it seems like an eternity.   I have been a little side tracked and my meanderings of my little world have been put in a little grey box and stored on a shelf whilst I have been fighting a jolly good cause for my little village in which I live.  Our beautiful riverside village has been thrown into turmoil with the unexpected arrival of a new business set to change our surroundings forever.  Our old derelict shellfish shack is set to become a Car Dismantling business which in my world means the same as a Car Breakers Yard!  The wheels of our campaign were set in motion when the realisation set in that this could severely affect our lives, homes and rural idyll. 

Then came Christmas, which was pure joy, although tinged with a slight distraction of the cloud that still hangs over us, it was sheer hard work and everything that a family Christmas should be.  My fantastic beautiful family, parents, sisters and brother, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews descended upon our cottage for a most fabulous Christmas celebration dinner which was, for the first year ever,  a collaboration of all our efforts and shared costs, much to the relief of my husband!  I will post more extracts and photos from our Christmas Day activities in due course.

Of course the inevitable happened, as always does after a flourish of hectic life and madness!  The dreaded illness descended upon us, knocking us down one by one! My husband, Adie, daughter Rachie and I were all struck down with really bad colds, sore throats, coughs and sinusitis.  I am now midway through the second week of having this and it is wearing me down.  But, I see a light. A small glimmer of turning that corner and feeling just that little bit better.  I have spent far too many days and nights cocooned in my favourite blanket which has the soft gentle brush of a comforting teddy bear.

My thoughts are now turning to 2012...What will it bring, on which paths will I travel and which opportunities will I make....my life in my hands! Its so exciting. Of course there will be good times and bad times and choices will deliver unexpected  changes in direction but thats all part of our complex lives.

I had to venture out this week to pick up some more medication and took the opportunity to pay a quick visit to my favourite thrift shop.  Nothing much there I thought, no great finds until I took a quick glance in the book room at the back of the shop....and there it was...like a beam of sunlight, my first find of the year.  From the darkness of this musty room I glanced a rug on the floor partially hidden by piles and piles of books. Promptly asking if this actually for sale I was delighted to be told it was and swifty sealed the deal.  All the while I heard my daughters moans of disgust at how musty, dirty and awful this rug was and how cross Adie would be at me bringing yet another unloved article into the cottage. This was not just any rug, no, no, no.  This was a truly genuine silk rug in need of some love and attention.  My next project awaits my recovery and my cottage awaits yet another gem of recycling so keep in touch and the progress of how I get on will be posted here.

I am off now to get some more tablets and hope to be able to spend more time with you sharing my passion for recycling and my adventures with my rural cottage life.

See you all soon.