down the rabbit hole (and other feeble excuses)

How can I have been too busy to blog? What is the world coming to? Didn't fall down a rabbit hole, but have been absent without leave. Fair amount of tedious stuff has filled my days, but not exclusively so.   For example, I met Jill!  I took a day off from committee works and whizzed over to Luton to visit her open studio exhibition. It was such a treat to meet her and be able to see her delicate and painstaking craft work and photographs and to chat to her about her sketchbooks. Such an inspiration. I bought one of her sweet needle-felted cards which I'll be getting framed to hang in my workroom.   I specially love the little french knots worked in multi-coloured thread on the pink flower heads. 

Also not tedious was this scrummy pud

 eaten here

at a friend's special birthday lunch.   We had a great day with lots of fun and laughter.  

And someone I have never met, but whom I know to be a very lovely lady indeed, made me a gift which I shall treasure.   Carolyn has just recently opened an Etsy shop, which is a rip-roaring success already, not surprisingly.  She has been making tyvek beads which have miraculously turned into veritable Byzantine jewels and she generously sent me some beautiful turquoise and gold ones.  

I've always loved Carolyn's St.Ives-inspired hearts and I couldn't believe that she created one just for me.  What kindness.

Isn't it amazing?   I adore this delicate knitted shoreline and the little quayside cottage.   There's so much to see and explore in this fascinating work of art.  

Not in the same league, sadly, but I have been felting one or two heart brooches - this is my attempt at being exuberant .... and resisting the usual strong urge to tidy, neaten, snip and straighten.   I quite like this red and orange one, which has bits of an old Indian bag that fell to pieces through being loved to much.   But the ones below just look a bit scruffy to me.   Probably because I rebelliously and repeatedly stabbed them with my little pointy scissors!

Using some avocado skin dyed fabrics which I got from Heike last year, I stitched some little stitcheries to make into greetings cards

And Lesley might recognise some of the snippets in the blue versions.   I've incorporated my indigo bits with some hand-dyed lovelies that came from Lesley's Shed.   The snippets of lace were out of my Erosion Bundle - they were buried in the compost heap and took some dye from screen-printed fabric they were wrapped up with.

 mother-of-pearl buttons and

 pink knots

And, see, I can do loose threads and frayed edges .... but I did hide the stabby-scissors.

I was going to make you hang on for some more photos of some cards I made today, but I think you've persevered long enough.   However, those who come back in a day or two will be rewarded not only with pictures of greetings cards, but with views of bunting.   Heart-shaped bunting.   Aha, now I've got your attention.

Chrissie x