Has it Really Been That Long?

Has it REALLY been THAT long since I last blogged?!?

Well, what can I say? I've been rather busy since last, er, March.

What HAVE I been doing? Well, making, making and more making of course, keeping my stock up in my Folksy Shop and in Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre and Taurus Crafts in Lydney. I attended some fabulous Christmas markets at Nature in Art and Gloucester Cathedral and I ran several classes at the Arts and Crafts Centre (including one using silver clay)! I also started experimenting with new techniques, which I am still refining and getting really excited about - including wax mould carving, photopolymer stamps and using copper and bronze clays - all things I fully intend to blog about over the coming months. In between all that Little Miss MoonRiver grew up a bit more and went off to secondary school (sob) and I studied a bit of theology (as you do)! SO all in all it has been a busy and crazy 2015.

And so, new year 2016 was a time to reassess and take stock. I have decided that from the end of January, I will no longer sell my jewellery at Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre. I'm rather sad about this as I have loved my time there and made some fabulous friends, but I am simply not getting enough time in the workshop to develop all the new ideas I'm so excited about. I still have classes booked there each month though (for full details see attached poster) so I'm not disappearing entirely!

Right now, I'm itching to jump into all the half finished projects and ideas I have lying around but I really must be disciplined and attend to some less glamorous tasks like tidying up websites, shops and, yes, blogs. On that note, I hope it won't be so long until I post again!

 

Tree of Life Pendant Workshops

Last month saw the start of a new venture for me - I started booking the classroom at Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Centre to hold workshops.

In February two lovely ladies spent the afternoon with me making their own tree of life pendants. One lady chose to use mother of pearl beads and the other gorgeously earthy mookaite.

Due to popular demand I have arranged another workshop for later this month, so if you couldn't make it last time (or found out too late!) then now's your chance. I will be arranging more in the near future too.

If you'd like to come along and have a go then just drop me a line!

A Walk in the Woods

It won't come as any surprise to those that know me that I do enjoy a nice trip to the woods, so with the weather really rather fine on Sunday (and finding ourselves with a rare window in the diary) we trotted off to reconnect with some trees.

Now, this particular piece of woodland is high on a hill with fantastic views for miles and miles. It's open and airy with mostly deciduous trees like beech, hazel and ash, but sadly not an oak tree to be found (my personal favourite........maybe). The ground slopes VERY steeply down to the one side of the path - glad no one slipped!

It's amazing what you spot in the woods - I wonder who might live in a house like this.......

I love to find little gateways like this one......

I was really taken by the textures of the ivy on this tree......

and the roots on the path......

And finally, if anyone knows what sort of fungi this is then I'd be very grateful not to have to look it up (pretty please).............

Thanks for reading - now that Little Miss is back at school and Small Boy has started in reception (sob) I'm enjoying getting back to the work shop - pics of this week's creations to follow very soon!

Baaaaaa - trials of the sheepdogs

Of course I've seen One Man and his Dog - years ago, is it still on? As far as I recall, it probably isn't quite 'reality tv' enough for today....maybe if they brought in a public phone vote to choose the winning dog and a panel of 'experts' who may or may not have once owned a dog of some kind, perhaps even a sheepdog.

Anyway, I digress......

Today I went to watch the English National Sheepdog Trials and had a great day out with children and grandparents. I've never seen sheepdog trials before and found it quite fascinating!

I won't pretend to have the slightest clue as to how it's scored or what makes a good run - I just spent my time willing the sheep into the pen and marvelling at how the dogs did exactly what the whistle told them to. The children spent the day standing on tiptoes on a hay bale looking through binoculars trying to be the first to spot the sheep coming over the hill.

Note to self: I wonder if whistles work as well on children, perhaps that's my mistake!

Back to the classroom

It's a bit after the event now (doesn't time fly during the summer holidays!) but last month saw my first foray into the world of teaching.

I'd been invited to run a two day course for Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Summer School, so I diligently packed up my work shop and relocated to a local secondary school.

I have to say that it was a bit strange being back in a science lab again, it was not my favourite subject at school (and yes - labs still look and smell the same)!

I had a great two days with eight lovely and willing students. Over the two days they each made four pieces of jewellery, including a silver leaf and a gemstone tree of life. One of my ladies even made a silver ukelele pendant!

Sadly I was so busy teaching that I forgot to take any photos to show you (maybe next time).

I'm hoping to run some short classes of my own soon, so if you'd be interested in classes in Gloucester then watch this space or sign up for my newsletter here.

To find out more about the Gloucestershire Arts and Crafts Summer School you can find their website at http://www.spanglefish.com/gloucesterartsandcrafts/index.asp

Out with the old.......

Well, it might be grey and damp again today but we have at least seen some sunshine this week. On Thursday I even sat outdoors to eat my sandwiches!
This quick snap was taken next to the bench where I sat - it's in the cloister gardens in Gloucester Cathedral. I love the fact that you can see the dark evergreen holly bush in the background surround by the snowdrops. There's a lovely daffodil there too just about ready to bloom.