Moving in day!

Very excited to be moving into our new home today!

Yesterday we walked for hours in our new area, along the canal to the next town, Winchelsea, and then back along the beach.

Took loads of photos but haven't got them on the computer yet - just this one which amused me somewhat - you might have seen it on facebook yesterday, but if not...I see a female figure on the left and a rabbit on the right. Wonder what they're talking about?




It's actually a pair of very weathered sea-defence groynes.

Nature's Art

Walking through the woods today we saw a fallen tree - to me it looks like a big beached fish. Can you see what I mean?



Looking more closely, the wood has weathered so beautifully with ripples and whorls - what sculptor could better this work?











Wish I could have taken it home for the garden, but it looked a little heavy.

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you're a Dr Who fan** click here

This is…Unique Inspirations

from My Unique Inspiration on Etsy.

Quote sign

Favourite colour?

Well this is a more complicated question than you might think it should be. At the moment, it's cobalt blue to wear, red for the house (every house should have a red wall somewhere), and pink simply because I LOVE it. Lately, green has been way up there in my favs also. It is such a happy color :)

Favourite smell?

Oh this is easy... Chanel Mademoiselle. My great grandmother wore Chanel, and I take after her in so many ways, it just follows that Chanel would be my scent of choice as well. Oh, and a close second is the smell of coffee ready before I get out of bed in the morning.


Dance Live Love wallhanging

Favourite place?

DISNEYLAND. Hands down. I used to go there all the time as a child and even now when we need a "girls weekend" my grandma, mom, sister, and I still go. That place holds more happy memories than I can even count.

Favourite sound?

The sound of the words "I Love You" being spoken. I think that they are important and everyone should hear them and speak them at least once a day :)

Love


Favourite way to spend your time?

This is impossible to answer with just one thing. I love to read (it relaxes me) I love to hike, camp, climb, run, bike, cook, create, and relax with friends. I can't pick just one thing!

Favourite item in your shop of all time?

I always think that I have a "favorite" set of letters, but then I make something new that tops it. Right now my favorite is the brightly colored LAUGH sign.

Laugh

Why?

Because it reminds us of the importance of laughter and joy in our lives. Plus the colors and papers are amazing. I am out of most of those papers so that is a one of a kind sign. I have thought about pulling it and keeping it for myself, but lets be honest here- I have more signs around my house than necessary.

Favourite shop that isn’t yours?

This is a hard one! There are so many amazing artists on Etsy. I have been following this photographers work for the longest time, Irene Suchocki, and I am absolutely in love with her work.


follow your bliss by Irene Suchoki


MySelvagedLife has some of the most incredible jewelry and I also love PomLove's poms.

Why?

Each of these artists are so unique, creative, and talented! How could I not love them? One thing Etsy has made me realize is the importance of supporting fellow artists... That means taking the time to make purchases online and supporting people whose work I really believe in.


Family

What has been the most useful lesson you’ve learnt so far that you’d like to pass on to our readers?

It's a lot of hard work, but you get to interact with some amazing people as well as discover some incredible artists. Like I said above, I have completely changed my mentality about where I will spend my money. Local artists and fellow crafter's are where its at! Also I have learned about the importance of building a community around me. For me, it is less about SELL SELL SELL and more about finding out about other people and building connections that eventually may -or may not- lead to sales (and that goes both ways!)People have so much to offer other people in the way of ideas, connections, advice, and friendships. Ultimately, people are what are important, not sales.

Thank you - inspiring sentiments from My Unique Inspiration! I totally agree about needing and valuing our online communities (especially Etteam xxx) but for me, sales are pretty important (or we don't eat!)

find My Unique Inspiration on her blog, on facebook and on twitter,
and of course in her Etsy shop where a few new products are offered with free worldwide shipping!

This is... Teresa

from TeresasPrimTreasures



Favourite colour?

My favorite colors seem to change periodically but right now I tend to lean towards the dark olive greens!

Favourite smell?

I love the smell of a sweet vanilla candle burning, the moments after a light Spring rain, a brisk cool Fall evening and coming into the house on a cold Winter day with the smell of fresh baked bread coming out of the oven!



Favourite sound?

Sitting in a peaceful wooded area with a babbling creek flowing by! (Can you tell I have Spring fever?) LOL

Favourite way to spend your time?

I enjoy working with wool and a needle and thread!



Favourite item in your shop of all time?

Right now my favorite item in my shop would be the mice! They are selling quite well and it keeps me motivated to creating more of them!



What has been the most useful lesson you've learnt so far that you'd like to pass on to our readers?

It really helps to join forces with groups or teams in order to be found on this vast world wide web! You can learn so much from others!



Prim Blessings,
~Teresa~

Thank you Teresa! Find Teresa's work on the web at:
http://www.teresasprimtreasures.etsy.com
http://www.teresasprimitivetreasures.com
http://www.teresasprimtreasures.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/Primcrafter

Calling all golfers

I intended to start by saying that my appreciation of golf is pretty similar to Oscar Wilde...but having checked with my dear friend Mr Google, it seems it was actually Mark Twain who described golf as a good walk spoiled.
Having alienated all my potential customers, I'll move on...;-)



(I should perhaps point out this is not Mark Twain)

Leaving that aside, however, my boss has asked me to knit him some wooly warmers for his sticks clubs, and it has occurred to me that they would make a good addition to my shops.

(It isn't my boss, either)

According to my good friend Mr Google once more, it seems most golfers have 3 woods requiring covers - a 1, 3 and 5. If you are (or know) a golfer, it'd be really helpful if you could confirm or deny this to prevent me offering sets of 3 when I should really be making singles (or whatever).



I'll leave you with another golfing quote, this time from Jimmy Demaret. I have no idea if he's right...

"Golf and sex are about the only things you can enjoy without being good at."

Mystery object, can you help?

I bought this little chap from ebay years ago. The seller had no idea what it was, and I've tried and tried to find out.

He has been very useful during my former career as a primary teacher. One of the hardest tasks is to make children think, so I had regular sessions where I would challenge them to investigate a mystery object.



Early ideas would be limited to "it's wood", but as they got accustomed to the task my groups of 7/8/9/10 year-olds discovered more and more, and learnt to challenge their own (and more easily, each others!) ideas.

A common suggestion was that it as a wine stopper (own up - how many of you were thinking just that?) Certainly the shape looks similar - but would you want bare wood in contact with your wine? How could it be cleaned sufficiently?

Some children suggested it was Chinese, it reminded them of Chinese New Year dragons.
One child said it might slot into the top of a bureau, with a matching creature at the other end. Often we talked about legends and belief systems, as it remnded us of mythical beasts.



Others thought the bottom peg should slot into the top of a banner, or a marching band *stick* (what on earth are those called?)

We often talked about who might have made it. Obviously somebody skilled, somebody who owned (or had access to) decent tools, somebody with leisure time (as it didn't seem to be functional).



And at the end of a lesson, they always wanted to know the "right" answer. The most important lesson of all happened then - because I don't know what it is. Do you?

It's about 6" (15cm) tall including the peg at the bottom and is carved from a single piece of wood. The peg and underneath the base are much more roughly carved. There are decorative swirls (which some thought of as runes) on the base.