Sunday, 19 August 2012




Archie the Lizard is finished!



'Liberace' Lizard in all his glory
Sunbathing in the garden to show off his golden underbelly

Anything Sally Mander can do I can do better!









AUGUST BJP PIECE

ZoĆ« is my August BJP piece. I belong to a beading group called 'Zebras' and we have just spent a lovely few days in the Cotswolds on a beading 'retreat'. Great company, beautiful scenery, lovely food and lots of time to indulge in our favourite hobby. The beads are mainly 15s and her eyelashes are Nymo thread stiffened with PVA glue. The piece is surrounded by wooden African beads. 


Sunday, 8 July 2012

Archie has a new friend - Sally Mander!

Sally was another charity shop find. She was filled with sand and  her maker's label had been cut off.  I emptied out the sand and filled her with soft stuffing and gave her an exotic new skin - and sparkly toe nails!  She posed as my July BJP piece and has now gone to live with a very dear friend.

Archie and Sally


Sally's new skin
Progress with Archie - only his tail to finish now!

Sally Mander - July BJP piece
She's a bit of a tom-boy!

Update on Teasel Picture 
 Arrival of Greenbottle fly!



Saturday, 2 June 2012


JUBILEE GHERKIN 



I created this piece for June as it is our Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations this weekend (sadly the weather is miserable). The pigeon is flying over my favourite building in London, which is nicknamed 'The Gherkin'. I've decorated the windows with some Coronation silver charms from a bracelet my Gran bought me in 1953: the orb, the royal coach and the throne. Then I found some cheap and cheerful Jubilee ear-rings and some Union Jack buttons and beads and stitched them on as well. The red London bus started life as a key-ring. It was fun to do, but I'm not very good at geometry and the windows are a bit wonky!

Sunday, 6 May 2012

May BJP Sleeping Swan




Sleeping Swan close-up - May BJP


Sleeping Swan - May BJP


I've got a photo of a sleeping swan with its beak tucked into its feathers and  the oval shape of the bird seemed perfect for my next project. A friend had given me a lot of small fabric swatches, so I selected out the white/cream pieces and stuck them on the backing material (my great-grandmother's damask tablecloth which had seen better days!). I left the edges raw and frayed them even more to suggest feathers. Then I had fun stitching them in place using silver, pearl and cream beads of various sizes. The sparkly button on the swan's head is quite an old one. I think the real feather might be swansdown, but I'm not sure. I finished the edges with frilly crochet using a silver thread. The piece doesn't have any deep meaning, but I was recycling lots of pretty bits and pieces which remind me of lovely people.  

Thursday, 5 April 2012


APRIL BJP PIECE





This month's piece is all about self-indulgence. Being saddled with the month as a name, it had to be all about me!

There were some comments about animal totems which set my imagination going. I found illustrations of spirit shields and totems and decided to have a go at creating one for myself. My spirit animal has to be the fox so I started with a little portrait of the vixen who visited us regularly. The backing material has a design which suggests the spiral of life and was given to me by a friend. Another friend parted with some clear golden stones, which took on the shape of a fox's paw print. The portrait is edged with amethyst chips which were a gift from my younger son and his wife. Amethyst is my favourite stone and I love all shades of purple. The 3 little stars are 3 very special people in my life, including all their loved ones. The piece of tiger eye is from a visit to Cape Town at a difficult time for me. The gold ladybird represents some unexpected successes and an awakening of my fascination with insects. I included the gingko leaf  as it was one of my first efforts at bead weaving. The rest of the decoration took care of itself.

Apologies to everyone for not being very active in commenting recently. I bust a rib - taking a photo would you believe!!?? - and have been feeling very sorry for myself. I've not been able to drive or sit comfortably for a couple of weeks. Posting this has been a small achievement on the road to recovery.

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

MAGIC MOMENTS


Newly emerged dragonfly

Newly emerged Elephant Hawkmoth

Feeding orphaned hedgehog on goat's milk

Orphaned blackbird

I'm here and waiting!